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Post Flood Cleanup: A Step-By-Step Guide

It’s finally over! The dark clouds have cleared up, there’s blue sky ‘up yonder,’ and the rays of the bright, warm sun are doing their part to dry up the ‘muddy messes’ found on patios, walkways, streets, and highways — as well as shine new hope into the flood weary hearts and minds of business owners, homeowners, and the community-at-large!

The Home Flood Clean Up

‘Mother Nature’s fury,’ shown by the tropical storms, intense thunderstorms, and steady rains, is not the only reason for a home flood. Some home floods are of the ‘man-made variety’ when water pipes and hot water heaters burst, sinks, tubs, and toilets overflow their porcelain ‘banks,’ or the dishwasher or clothes washer overflows!

The first step of cleanup after such home floods is to consider the amount of water on the floor and the source of the water flow! Such post-flood cleanup from water pipes and heaters, sinks, tubs, toilets, dishwashers, or clothes washers usually does not contain water contaminated by bacterial germs, as can occur when sewage systems overflow, or nature’s rains bring the flow of bacteria-laden debris.

The following is the step-by-step guide to the man-made post-flood home cleanups:

Determine the source of water on the floor. If the sink, toilet, or tub is the source of a water on the floor, it could be due to slow drainage. Call a licensed plumber to clear the drains, or repair the broken pipe, or call the service provider of your hot water heater to repair or replace the heater.
If the water is still gushing, turn off the water source. If the source of the home flood is the hot water heater, shut down the home’s electricity and natural gas heat source of the furnace before one begins the flood cleanup. Leave the shutdown of electricity, furnace, or water source to the professionals if uncertain how to do it safely. NEVER touch the electric panel box if there is water on the floor next to the electric panel, and NEVER unplug electric appliances if one’s hands or shoes are wet, or if standing on a damp floor, or if the electric wires or outlets were made wet by the flood of water.
When it is determined safe to mop and clean up after a flood, consider how much water needs to be mopped. Absorbent towels may be enough for small water puddles; for removing larger areas of water, a small portable wet/dry vacuum may only be necessary. In a recent blog, A Comprehensive Guide To Navigating Cleanup After a Flood, flood cleanup may need the professional water extraction methods used by Exit Mold, a one-stop hub of home restoration, serving businesses and homeowners of NYC and its five boroughs for more than 25 years!
Opening windows and doors to ventilate the flooded area will help dry the area.
A call should also be made to the insurance company that provides one’s business, home, or condo home insurance policy. The home insurance policy may cover the cost of flood damage cleanup.

Home Flood Cleanup After A Rainstorm

The cleanup after a flood, that comes due to the intensity of rain in a short period of time, a steady rainfall that brings the rivers to overflow their banks, or flooding when sewage systems bubble up and overflow the street grates, needs to consider the muddy messes that line streets, highways, and homes. Flood cleanup from nature’s storms will bring with it damage to electrical appliances, growth of mold and mildew, and personal loss of clothing and household furniture. If the water has soaked through to the floor joints, walls, and ceiling beams the structural integrity of the home or business may be compromised.

The following is the step-by-step guide to post-flood cleanups after nature’s storm:

Re-enter house or business for cleanup after a flood only when official authority deems re-entry to be safe.
The electrical system will need to be inspected by a licensed electrician before electric power
is again turned on.
Cleanup of a flooded home, when water is slow in receding, will require cleaning with an
anti-microbial cleaning solution to kill the growth of mold and mildew.
Home flood cleanup after a rainstorm will also require sanitizing to kill bacterial debris that flowed in with the water.
Open the doors and windows to allow air circulation to begin drying out the home. Use a portable wet/dry vacuum to remove any standing water. If the flood waters are extensive, it would be prudent to employ the assistance of Exit Mold, home restoration experts. As described in a recent blog, A Comprehensive Guide To Navigating Cleanup After A Flood, Exit Mold technicians use a process called extraction to remove stagnant water with industrial-size vacuums and sump pumps. The next step is a process of dehumidifying or drying the flooded home using industrial fans, air movers, and dehumidifiers.
The final step in the step-by-step process of post-flood cleanup after a storm involves sorting through the personal property to assess what can be salvaged and what is not salvageable. This reconstruction phase also includes the repairing or complete reconstruction of damaged wood trim, windows, doors, drywall, electrical wiring, if need be, and plumbing pipes. The professional expertise of Exit Mold, serving the home restoration needs of NYC and the five boroughs for more than 25 years, stands ready to assist New York residents and businesses with cleaning up water-damaged property —step-by-step.

Contact The Flood Cleanup Professionals

Whether flood and water damage restoration, mold remediation, lead services, XRF lead testing, or fire and smoke damage restoration, Exit Mold is New York’s one-stop restoration hub.

Restoring Your Home: Repairs and Renovations

Restoring Your Home: Repairs and Renovations In our blog, A Comprehensive Guide To Cleaning Up After A Flood, we wrote about physically cleaning a home