What to do when your basement or crawlspace is flooding – Perry Hall, Maryland, USA

6/18/2019 (Permalink)

Following these steps to regain control until help arrives. 

If it can be done safely, determine the source, and stop water form coming in.

Did it rain like cats and dogs last night? Is water coming from the hot water heater? Maybe your refrigerator (sometimes, the ice maker line breaks and causes extensive flooding). Turn the water off or skip to step two if it is storm related and it’s still raining.

Move items out of the wet areas

Do what you can without hurting yourself, do not do heavy lifting or awkward bending if your doctor has instructed you not to. Start by “block” furniture (place aluminum foil under furniture legs or wood blocks, this prevents the furniture from staining the flooring, this happens often when a water damage occurs). 

Wipe water excess from surfaces after removing lamps and objects on top, and move wet area rugs away from floors, their dyes often bleed and stain wood flooring and carpet.  Perhaps the garage, or on top of a large trashbag/tarp.

The mitigation company should handle the rest, Here is how the SERVPRO System handles your contents

Remove excess water with towels, or Mop.

Blot or mop excess water from carpet with clean neutral colored towels and clean mops. (heavily dyed or soiled towels may bleed and dye the area).

Schedule repairs and mitigation services to restore your wet basement. 

If you’ve determined the source, call to schedule to have it fixed immediately, then call your insurance company to file a claim if you wish to, then call an IICRC certified restoration company. 

Not all Restoration companies are equal

Get to know your options and make sure to read reviews from their website and from review sites, inspect before and after pictures, and check certifications. This is not something that anyone can do, in fact the proper equipment and chemicals aren’t even available to those who are not properly trained, licensed and insured in this field, all of which cost thousands and thousands of dollars each year to renew not to mention the mind boggling costs to get trained. Hiring an amateur or someone who considers themselves a handyman will lead to future problems and a bigger bill in the long run, and often times these handymen cost triple what a normal emergency restoration company would charge in the first place.