Water Damage Clean up

Floodwater is usually a toxic stew of water, wastewater pollution, household chemicals, gasoline, and more. After the flood has spilled out of the house, residues left after this should be decontaminated or removed.

During water damage clean up, it is essential to wear rubber gloves and waterproof boots to protect against contaminants that can be absorbed through the skin. If you are doing water damage clean up yourself, you need to wash your hands regularly with a hand sanitizer or soap and clean water.

The main problem when flooded the apartment is that it is not enough to remove the puddle formed after the flood to dry and confidently say that you know how to do it, since the main trouble comes from moisture that has already been absorbed into the walls, floor, ceiling, furniture, etc. The room may dry for more than 2 months, especially if the apartment has insufficient ventilation. For such a long period, most of the premises with furniture can become unusable.

If your home has suffered a flood, first of all protect yourself legally, carry out a damage assessment, draw up an act, prove your innocence and so on. Once you have done this, contact our water damage clean up experts to take care for the real problem! Here are some helpful advises what to do in such unpleasant situation.

First of all, when performing water damage clean up, it is necessary to remove excess water from the surfaces of furniture, floor, etc. All visible moisture can be removed using special pumps or rags. Carefully wipe dry all surfaces in the room.

It is recommended to de-energize the apartment, or at least not to include extra appliances and lighting, since moisture can reach the wiring. As a rule, when properly wiring the power grid, it is carefully isolated, but nevertheless it is recommended to be careful. Moisture is a very good conductor of electricity.

After you remove excess moisture, water damage clean up continues with thoroughly drying the premises themselves. The task is to pull out the absorbed moisture from the walls, floor, furniture, and ceiling. If this is not done by force, then in the natural process it may take several weeks or months, which is enough for irreversible consequences.
A very effective way to drain is to remove moisture using an air dryer. There are dozens of different models of air dryers capable of quickly drying the room.

What is needed to use a dehumidifier to eliminate the effects of flooding?

Determine the volume of the room. Each room must be drained separately. For example, the kitchen has suffered –then a dehumidifier will need to be installed in the kitchen, and the entrance doors should be closed for the duration of the dehumidification, thereby limiting the natural ventilation.
How to drain the concrete floor after flooding?

It is the floor that suffers most during flooding, since all the water is accumulated on it. And to bring the water itself is not as problematic as completely get rid of precipitation in the concrete floor, especially if it has cracks. After you dry all furniture, walls, carpets and other surfaces, moisture that remains in the floor can be a source of all problems in the future – it will increase the humidity of the air, be transferred to the furniture and walls, and be absorbed into finishing materials. Eventually, the fungus will settle in your home for a long time. Therefore, it is very important to properly dry the concrete floor when doing water damage clean up.

How to implement it? Will help the same air dryer. After you remove all the water from the room, you need to turn on the air dryer for several days. It should work until the floor is completely drained, and if it seems to you that the floor is completely dry, it is better to wait again. To drain a concrete floor using an air dryer, the following requirements must be observed:

1. keep the room temperature at least + 15 ° C (according to the standards, the temperature should be + 20 ° + 30 ° C);
2. make the room completely sealed so that the dehumidifier can remove moisture specifically from the floor;
3. carry out the correct selection of the dryer: make a calculation based on the volume of the room and multiply by 2 times the figure. For example, if the volume of the room is 100 m3, then you need to calculate the performance of 200 m3. If the volume of air in the room at 200 m3 is suitable for a desiccant with a capacity of 20 liters/day.

Other methods to drain the concrete floor :
If you use the method of airing – it will take weeks, and during this time the moisture can make its own adjustments. If you buy special building hair dryers, they will heat the floor, then they will dry out a lot and as a result, the floor will crack and the cracks will be noticeable. And the dehumidifiers will eliminate the water itself, without altering the floor structures.
Repair work

Of course, after flooding of your house or apartment, you will have to do a complete overhaul. Remove all finishing materials from walls, floors and ceilings: stretched and suspended ceilings, wallpaper, plastic panels, parquet or laminate. Clean walls thoroughly and be sure to treat them with disinfectant and antiseptic solutions. This must be done to prevent mold and mildew. Flooding is a natural disaster that cannot be prevented. And if your house was in the water, this is undoubtedly a great misfortune. In our article we wanted to suggest how to deal with this disaster and what can be done immediately after flooding. However, water damage clean up is complicated process in which professional equipment and knowledge is needed. You can rely on our team of experts for bringing your home back to normal and safe condition.