"My House Is Soaked What Do I Do?"
It doesn't matter whether you live Upstate, New York City, or on Long Island or whether your house is new or old. Water damage is one of the most terrible things to happen to a homeowner. Regardless of whether you just left the water running too long in the tub or the New York winter caused your pipes to freeze and burst you are facing the reality of water a foot deep soaking your carpet; believe me when I say this: don't ignore water damage take action immediately! I've lived this tragedy three times now in three separate homes and because of that experience I wanted to provide some guidance for others about what to do when your house is soaked.
Here is the unfortunate truth of it, in many cases, you will need to call a professional water damage remediation service. If you are lucky maybe you can handle this yourself but if there is any uncertainty you would be better served to get on the phone pronto. Your cost to repair water damage will vary widely depending on the severity of the damage and how quickly you decide to act. Time is of the essence; mold can set in within 72 hours of exposure. Water damage clean up is not fun. However, failure to act against water damage can jeopardize the value of your home, your greatest asset, and even put the health of your family at risk. So if you are currently reading this while contemplating a flooded family room or a soaked carpet and wondering what you do, take it one step at a time and work your way through this 9 step action plan:
1. Find the circuit breaker and turn off the power in affected parts of your home. Electricity and water do not play nicely with each other. Don't be lured into a false sense of security because of power failure either. If it suddenly comes back on you or your loved ones might get a nasty surprise.
2. Check your walls for signs of structural damage. Typically drywall does not tolerate a lot of water. Mold and rot can set in to drywell with prolonged exposure endangering your long-term health and the value of your home.
3. Turn off gas to the house. It is better safe than sorry.
4. Take lots of pictures of the damage. You will need this for the insurance company if you decide to file a claim (keep reading to figure learn why you may not want to file a claim). If you are going to report it you want to do it within the first 24 hours but don’t call your insurance company just yet. Keep reading before you decide. If your pictures are particularly nasty feel free to send it in to me, I'll post it on the site!
Final 5 steps continued on next page→
New York news from the New York Times
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