If you’ve ever had water damage in your home, you know how much of a pain it is to deal with. Especially if the water is still there. Water can cause serious damage to your hardwood floors, walls, furniture, and even personal belongings. Not only that but mold can start growing in the damaged area if the right steps aren’t taken. It is always advisable to hire water damage restoration specialists. This article will teach you how to properly clean up after having water damage in your home.
If Your Flooring Is Damaged
If water damage destroys part of your flooring, this process might be different than what you would do for wall or furniture damage. First off, remove everything from the room so that nothing else becomes ruined. Next, remove the baseboards around the damaged area so that you have access to the flooring underneath it. Now use a shop vac or carpet cleaner with hot water in it to vacuum up any remaining water on the floor.
For hardwood floors, make sure to only use towels and nothing else. Since paper towels can leave pieces behind or rip off when they get wet. You’ll want to soak up as much of the excess moisture from the wood itself. Particleboard, plywood, fiberboards, and even concrete subfloors are things that will not dry out but there is another way to go about this problem.
If your home has these materials throughout then you might not be able to fix your floors. You could just leave it as it is until you get the money you need for repairs. If you want to try and save these materials, however, the best thing to do would be to saturate them with a moisture-blocking primer. These can come in cans or bottles and they work best when sprayed on thickly. After that wait a couple of hours for it to completely dry before applying a coat of paint over top of your primer if needed.
Before continuing to the next steps make sure that no furniture or appliances are going to be ruined by excess water still left in the damaged area if it hasn’t been completely removed yet by vacuuming up what you can.
If Your Walls Are Water Damaged
If you’ve ever had water damage in your home, chances are you didn’t only find it under your flooring but on your walls as well. That might make things a little bit more difficult but nothing too bad should happen as long as you know what to do before cleaning up any excess moisture from those surfaces. The first thing you should do is determine how deep the water actually went into the drywall of whatever wall was affected by finding where there are visible signs of damage or discoloration. Once you’ve found it, measure down about 6 inches from that point and then use a sharp utility knife or box cutter to cut along the same horizontal line at that point.
After you’ve cut along this line, peel away any of the drywall material that isn’t too damaged. Readjust your measurements before cutting more of them away from your wall. Continue doing this until you have reached the area of damage without causing damage. Once you do, you’ll likely see a dark-colored space where the water once was which is a good sign. It means there is no more direct moisture present on those surfaces.
After water damage restoration, Now clean up all of this excess debris by vacuuming it out. Be careful not to do even more damage while also making sure not to spread the damage around. If you are careful, your walls should be fine but what about your furniture, appliances in the area? Well since you’ve already got access to them now would be a good time to remove them from the wall. Once you remove them, go ahead and dry all of those surfaces with a towel or cloth.
You do this by placing a single item at a time face down on top of whatever towels you have laid out and letting it sit for about 20 minutes before picking that piece of furniture back up again.
Conclusion paragraph:
If you’ve ever experienced water damage in your home, you know how upsetting it can be. It doesn’t matter whether the cause was a broken pipe or an overflowing sink; if left untreated for too long, the effects of this type of disaster are costly and time-consuming to repair. At All Star Plumbing., we specialize in providing water damage restoration. That will get your home back to normal as quickly as possible. Sso even though they may not seem like it at first glance, don’t hesitate to contact us today! You could have better luck with our team than trying DIY options. The reason is oftentimes they only make matters worse when dealing with plumbing issues.
Author Bio:- Laura Harnes
Laura is a marketing manager at All Star Plumbing & Restoration. With years of experience in the plumbing industry, she loves to create awareness about the causes, problems, and repair solutions of water damage and slab leak. She shares expert tips to lower utility bills and keep your AC, heater, and other appliances in optimum condition leading to longer lifespan.
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