You walk into your home or office and notice water everywhere. Naturally, your mind is racing. Knowing how to address the situation properly will relieve your stress.
Here are steps you should take when facing this type of emergency.
Assess The Damage
The first step in properly remediating the situation is understanding what type of water damage you have and the urgency of your problem. Look out for these 3 things:
The amount of water. Is an entire structure flooded or is the water damage more isolated to a certain room or area? A burst pipe in your home or office building might be causing massive flooding, while an overflowing toilet may be a more localized water damage concern. The amount of water will tell you a lot about the urgency of the situation.
The impacted areas. If carpeted areas in your home are soaked, that will require a more extensive cleanup than a stone, hardwood, or linoleum floor situation. While both certainly need attention, your remediation efforts will be different. Removing carpeting and padding will be a bigger job than vacuuming up water from a hard surface. See if the damage from an upstairs level has impacted the ceiling of the lower level and notice the damaged areas that need repair or replacement.
The type of water. This is a key determinant in assessing the emergency of the situation. There are three types of water. Clean water comes from a burst or leaking supply pipe – there are no contaminants in it. An example of gray water would be an overflowing dishwasher – something that is not clean, but not septic. Finally, black or contaminated water would result from sewage backups, overflowing toilets, or any kind of flooding from massive rain or other weather events.
Now that you know the extent of the water damage and what type of water you are dealing with, you can assess whether you have a water damage emergency or you have water damage that you can manage on your own. If the situation is urgent, call a professional water damage restoration company.
Contact 1-800 WATER DAMAGE
For residential and commercial water damage situations, the trained professionals at 1-800 WATER DAMAGE of Rodgers and Bentinville can be your best resource in an emergency situation. We will provide an assessment so you know exactly what you are dealing with, and we will communicate thoroughly with you throughout the cleanup and restoration process.
You can reach us by calling (479) 480-5070 or you can request service through our website. Professionals are available 24/7.
