Flood & Storm Damage

Water Damage Restoration | Flood & Storm Damage

Standing water from a storm or flood is a perfect breeding ground for many microorganisms, including bacteria, viruses, and molds. These microorganisms can be responsible for all kinds of diseases and trigger many different allergic reactions. Problems with infectious diseases can also happen if floodwaters in your house have been contaminated with raw sewage. Another concern, the longer the materials in your home or business stand in contact with water, the more structural damage that can potentially occur. It is vitally important to remove all standing water as quickly as possible after a flood.

When your house or business floods, the water can wreak havoc on the structure of your building, your personal belongings, and the health conditions of the inside environment. Flood waters can contain many contaminants and lots of mud and muck. Expensive items can get ruined all at once, even with just an inch of water, for example: carpeting, wallboard, appliances, and furniture will be ruined when exposed to standing water for any length of time. And more severe storms or deeper flooding may create additional damage to even more expensive systems, like: air ducts, the heating and air conditioning unit, roofing, private sewage and well systems, utilities, and even the foundations foundation.

 Immediate Response to building leaks and floods is necessary. This means within 24-48 HOURS all of the critical steps need to be taken if you want to maximize the chance of avoiding a costly mold cleanup project.

• Stop the water entry. Salvage or protect furnishings or possessions which have not yet gotten wet by moving them to dry areas.
• Remove standing water - Use special pumping equipment to extract water.
• Remove wet carpets, furniture, contents, and boxes of wet stored items. Store items to be salvaged from the flooded area outside or in a garage, not in upper floors of the flooded building. Otherwise you may accidentally carry mold or other contaminants to other building areas.
• Remove floor trim and lower portions of walls (such as drywall or paneling) (at least 12") and any wall insulation, in rooms where the floors were wet or flooded. Porous materials like drywall or plaster which have been wet cannot effectively be cleaned and should be discarded.

How Much Drywall to Cut Off After Flooding:

If a floor was wet, even if water did not rise up the walls, we remove no less than the bottom 12" of drywall as well as any floorboard trim. Water on a floor surface enters and wets the wall cavity and often causes a significant but hidden problem mold reservoir in the wall cavity. If mold is visible on a drywall covered wall, we remove drywall to no less than 12" above any visible mold, including inspecting the wall cavity interior for visible mold.

• Remove upper portions of wall coverings (drywall or paneling) higher than 12" if these areas are wet, or if water entered the wall cavity from above.
• Remove ceilings that have been flooded from above, regardless of material such as plaster, drywall, or ceiling tiles. Suspended ceiling tiles which have been wet should also be discarded, and the remaining suspended ceiling tiles removed to permit inspection and drying as well as to inspect for evidence of water overhead.
• If mold is already visible or suspected, use containment to avoid air movement from the damaged (moldy) area to other building areas. Containment generally means negative air and poly plastic barriers are set up and other steps are taken to isolate a moldy or dusty work area from the rest of a building.
• Surface Cleaning: after rough demolition to remove wet and porous or visibly moldy materials and other items listed above, all remaining loose dirt and debris is removed, and the remaining exposed surfaces such as wall studs and framing, masonry walls, floors, plywood sheathing, is cleaned to remove all loose and surface debris.
• Surface Disinfection: after area flooding it is safe practice to assume that septic or sewage contaminants accompanied the floodwaters, so disinfection of all building surfaces is part of the cleaning process.
• Use dehumidifiers, fans, heaters, to dry the exposed building areas and surfaces.
• Inspect upper building areas and dry or ventilate them. Depending on weather conditions ventilation may mean simply opening windows or use of fans to dry an area. A building attic over a flooded basement is likely to have an excessive moisture level so that area needs inspection and may need venting too.

While working in a flood damage cleanup project always make sure to wear the proper attire such as rubber gloves, water proof boots, long sleeves and full-length pants. When working in water or with very wet materials, your clothing is likely to become wet, so try to wear rain gear or other waterproof clothing if possible. Make sure you properly ventilate the cleanup areas before going in to any enclosed space. This will help to eliminate chemical odors and airborne hazards. If you do become exposed to hazardous chemicals or if you develop symptoms of exposure or illness, stop working immediately and seek medical attention.

Aside from the obvious dangers a rushing flood brings, there are some dangers that you might deal with while doing the water damage cleanup from the flood. Our natural response after a flood is to try to clean up as quickly as possible, but you need to be aware of the potential dangers since most of them are not visible. Make sure you are fully equipped with knowledge in protecting yourself while cleaning up.

Garden, yard and other house hold chemicals may be carried by floods. These chemicals can be hazardous to your health in case of direct contact. Flood waters are considered as black water according to the insurance industry since it is contaminated with hazardous chemicals and or raw sewage.

Household waste or raw sewage can be brought into your home by a flood too. There are many products in your home that are hazardous to your health. These products may break or spill during flood so there's a good chance these hazardous chemicals are in the standing water inside your home.

Agricultural and Industrial chemicals are often exposed after flood too. Flood waters often move large quantities of hazardous chemicals from one location to another, so your home may have hazardous materials that were not there before the flood. Flood damaged debris from your home should be placed in normal garbage bags or taken to regular waste collection area to avoid health problems.

Electrical hazards are also possible during the clean up process after a flood. Make sure the electrical power in any part of flooded home or building is shut off before you start a flood damage cleanup.

Call AAA Emergency Services immediately @ 513-769-0555 if you are having a problem with water damage from a flood or storm.