You simply cannot avoid the possibility of having an encounter with a flood when living in the US. Months from June to November are considered the peak months for natural disasters like floods and hurricanes. In a recent study conducted by the University of Miami, there was a record increase in flooding over the Miami beach during the past ten years and the trend is continuously rising. The reasons are obviously high tides and heavy rains.
Once the flood is over, you have to quickly start doing the restoration work, otherwise, it might get out of hand. It would be wise to quickly seek the help of a disaster restoration company, however, most of the people prefer to do all the flood clean-up operation on their own. If you are one of those who is going to handle this mess on your own, given below are the five mistakes that you should avoid during this cleanup operation.
Delaying The Restoration
As soon as the flood is over, it would be wise to quickly start the restoration work because the more you delay it, the more it becomes difficult to handle the mess. Usually, the first 48 hours are considered critical because the maximum damage is done during these hours. However, it depends upon the intensity of the flood how much the damage is done.
Maybe you find your house completely submerged in water after the flood, in that case, you would also need structural repairs of the house. There could be damage to all the primary systems of the house like the gas system, water system, wiring system, and septic system. If the damage is minimum, you might need a carpet restoration and cleaning of other household articles like furniture. It would be a good idea to go for an immediate restoration because the more the water stays here, the more it is going to damage your property.
Walking In The Water Without Protection
Once the flood is over, the first step most of the people are going to take is a quick inspection tour of their house. They want to assess how much the damage is done. However, walking in the flood water without taking any safety protection can be dangerous for you. If you make your way to the flooded basement and there you get bitten by a poisonous animal which migrated to your home with the floodwater, your life is going to be at risk. Also, there are other possibilities of getting injured when you try to walk into standing water. Like, you can get an electric shock because of wiring issue or there could be any sharp metal object in the water that might become the cause of injury.
Using Wrong Cleaning Tools
Use of right tools makes the task easier for you. If the intensity of the flood was not high, you can make use of mops, brooms and other regular cleaning tools present in every house. However, if the flood was of high intensity, there might be several inches of water standing on your floor and it would not be wise to jump into it with a mop in hand. You might need a water removal service that helps in the quick ejection of the water from your house. When the water is only a few inches high, you can do the draining on your own. It surely will take several hours to clean and then dry, but you are going to do this job of water removal on your own.
Ignoring The Details
Homeownersthink that they are done with the clean up when they see no more water on the surface. However, it is entirely the wrong assumption. You need to be highly cautious about everything when you are doing flood damage restoration. Just keep one thing in mind that water is like air and it gets into places where you haven’t even imagined. For instance, you are done with floor mopping and sucking all the water from your floor successfully but then you switch on the TV and you get surprised by an electric shock. This shock might be because of the wet wall on which the socket is installed. So, it would be better to check all the details and dry each and every corner of your house including walls.
Being Late In Calling Professional Help
If the flood was of high intensity and its damage restoration is not in your control, do not make the mistake of being late in calling a professional help. When you know that the damage is high and you are unable to handle to it alone, why delay it? To get instant relief, it would be wise to call a professional help right after the flood is over. You might feel that it is an expensive option but you get the desired results and with the passage of time, you realize that it was actually an investment that paid off.
Bottomline!
When you experience a flood, do not panic. Stay relax and start the restoration procedure as soon as the flood is over. Avoiding all the above-mentioned mistakes during your flood restoration process and you will be able to recover your property with minimum damage.
