How To Prepare For Water Damage Restoration

You’re a busy individual with a busy home or business. Everyone is; we all have a lineup of things that we need to or like to, accomplish in our days. When water damage comes knocking, it rarely announces it’s impending arrival in advance; it usually just shows up rudely and it doesn’t really care what else we had planned for the day. Even on lazy days when you don’t really have anything going on, it’s never a welcome surprise, and there are about 500 things you’d rather be doing at any given time than dealing with it. So, for those of you who, like me, vow to avoid it at all costs, here are five tips from the experts at ICC, for avoiding water damage and the restoration process, designed for the conscious, life-loving, busy-with-all-sorts-of-things homeowner: 

1. Pay attention to your water bill. In an ideal situation, you’ll have a steady. a predictable water bill that you can keep track of. If you’ve been watching it carefully, and notice an unexplained sharp increase, this is a bad sign and you probably have a leak somewhere. Check out exposed pipes, anything that has a history of leaking, crawl spaces, and anywhere else that you can think of that potentially has a problem. If you can find this and stop it quickly, you’ll be saving yourself all sorts of time and money down the road. 
2. Clear off debris from your roof and gutter. Inspect these things regularly, especially after wet weather or storms, and make sure you don’t have standing water in your gutters or heavy branches putting pressure on some aspect of your home. 
3. Inspect your appliances. Take good care of them; keep things clean and well functioning to avoid standing water that can weaken and erode. Replace pipes and hoses when they get brittle, discolored, or when they are bulging. Pay attention to odors and investigate if something isn’t working properly! 
4. Turn off your water before leaving town, and avoid leaving appliances running while you are away. One of the most common causes of a flooded basement or laundry room is totally avoidable; a load of laundry or something left unattended for a few hours. A  watchful eye every so often while appliances run can ensure that if something starts leaking unexpectedly, you can turn off the machine or fix it before it causes damages. When you go out of town for a weekend or longer, turn off your water altogether; it can prevent flooding or leaks while you’re away and is as quick and simple as the switch of a valve. 
5. Insulate your pipes. One of the most common causes of flooding is frozen and then burst pipe. You can have someone insulate your pipes, or you can purchase a heat-insulating tape or other product at a local hardware store and do it yourself. 

Water Damage Restoration In Minneapolis

When it all comes down to it, no one likes flooding, but efforts taken right now can avoid it later quite effectively. In addition, it always feels better to be on top of your home before something bad happens; prevention feels so much better than cleanup. Sometimes water damage happens no matter how well prepared we are for it; if you are in Minneapolis, be sure to call ICC Water Damage Restoration.