Dos and Don’ts After Flood Damage

A flooding incident can devastate a property and the recovery and clean up after a flood or an escape of water can often be a long and complicated project. Recovery of the structures and contents, to pre-incident condition, is necessary, but it is also essential that extraction of the flood water, flood sludge removal and flood silt removal, where necessary, is carried out to a high standard, so that building sanitisation and correct drying is achieved.  This will help avoid further complications and secondary damage.

While it is always best to call in a team of experts to complete any flood damage repairs and water damage restoration, there are a number of things that property owners should and should not do themselves to smooth and speed up the recovery process following a flood, or escape of water.

DO’S After Flood Damage

To minimise secondary damage to the building and contents and to help speed up the drying and recovery process, property owners should follow these simple steps:

• DO isolate services such as electricity and gas
• DO ensure that the source of the water, such as the water mains, is turned off, as this will prevent any further flood damage from occurring.
• DO try to mop up and remove any residual water from surfaces, as this will ensure secondary damage is avoided and can make a significant contribution to minimizing the subsequent flood damage repair work.
• DO Secure the property
• DO remove important documents. Place in sealed bags if smoke or water damaged
• DO remove personnel valuables. Place in sealed bags if smoke or water damaged.
• DO open up all of the windows in the building, as this will ventilate the room and speed up the process of flood damage repair.
• DO get in touch with your insurance company and arrange for a specialist to attend the property.   If your insurance company cannot get a specialist out to your disaster for any reason, call The ATR Group and they can be on site rapidly.

DON’TS After Flood Damage

As well as the things that property owners should do, there are also a few things to avoid:

• DON’T try to lift up or remove any of the damaged carpets. This is a job for flood damage restoration experts only.
• Don’t apply heat directly to the affected area – this could cause damage to contents.  Flood damage repair companies have special equipment to carry out this job safely and effectively.
• Don’t use any cleaning solutions or bleaches on the area as, if mixed with water from the flood, could cause further damage.

Act Now

To ensure that a property, which has suffered flood damage, is restored properly call the ATR Group on 1800 287 999. Our team has all the knowledge needed to complete every stage of this task. Regardless of whether you are a business or a homeowner, The ATR Group can help.  The ATR Group are well established and are a supplier to many of the Irelands top insurance companies. Call us on 1800 287 999 for further information on fire damage repair.