What To Do If Your Home Or Office Floods

The first thing any person is going to do if they walk into a flooded home or business is panic. This is not an everyday occurrence and a ton of thoughts start running through your mind. You might be trying to figure out how the water disaster happened or how to get the water out. You might be thinking about your insurance and who to call first. There are a lot of steps when it comes to water damage cleanup and during a property flood, safety should always be your first concern.

The Chandler community is a great one that we want to stay safe in any event. If your home or business has flooded, there are many safety risks to consider. Do not immediately enter your property. There is a risk of electrocution if there is a power source available. To keep you and the others around you safe, follow these steps.

1. Call a professional – A water damage professional understands all of the safety risks concerned with flooded homes and offices. A professional will arrive on the scene of the disaster quickly and start taking measures to make sure that the property is secure and safe. Do not try to clean up or enter the property until you have been cleared to by a professional. Flooding can cause many different types of safety risks:
   1. Heavy water can cause ceilings to collapse.
   2. Contaminated water could cause serious health risks and death.
   3. Standing water could be covering and hiding items that could be harmful if stepped on or touched.
   4. Water poses a threat to the integrity of the structure of the building. This could make the building unsafe to enter.
2. Know Your Water Supply – If you know where the water is coming from and you can control it from your water supply, turn it off. If you don’t know how to do that, ask a professional for help. Call a plumber or a water damage restoration company for help.
3. Inventory – Once you have been given the ok to go back inside the property. Start making a list of items that have been damaged. Take photos for a record and be sure to involve your water damage restoration company in the process. There are items that you may believe to be unsalvageable when your restoration company knows what they can do to save the items. Involve them in the process as much as possible and in the documentation of the items. Remove salvageable furniture and other items that may need a simple cleaning or wood furniture that will become damaged if it does not dry quickly.

The biggest and most valuable step to take if your home or office floods is calling a water damage company immediately. Do not wait. If there is standing water in your home, the longer it sits, the more damage it is going to do. It will be harder to clean and repair and turn into a much more complicated process. If you live in the Chandler area, contact Valleywide Restoration immediately. Our professionals are available 24 hours a day, 7 days a week.