Four Tips For Reducing Long-Term Water Damage After A Flood

Water damage disasters are one of the most frustrating problems that can happen to your home. Beyond the immediate effects of water damage like your home being flooded and possessions destroyed, there are many long-term consequences of water damage that can be even more destructive. 

Water Damage Restoration Minneapolis

The key to effective water damage restoration is preventing these long-term consequences from developing through effective restoration at the outset. Below are our tips at ICC on how you can do this.

Act Fast!

Speed is the name of the game when it comes to water damage restoration. If your home ever floods, the most important thing you can do (other than prioritizing your safety) begins to remove the water as soon as possible and call for professional help so the restoration process can begin without delay.

Remove Vulnerable Items From The Water

Sometimes, the worst damage from a flood is not the damage it causes to your home but its effects on your valued possessions. While a home can be fixed, family heirlooms and other irreplaceable valuables cannot be. One way to limit the likelihood of this happening is being proactive and moving some of your valuables, especially those that are vulnerable to water damage, up to higher ground before a flood ever occurs. In practice, this is pretty simple. Take any paper valuables and move them upstairs or store them in a filing cabinet up off the ground. Electronics should also be moved up to higher ground or at least kept off the floor.

If your possessions are ever damaged by a flood, you must get them out of the water as soon as possible. Even minutes of delay can lead to more long-term damage and potentially damage some of your possessions beyond repair. 

Dry Things Out

Once the standing water has been removed from your home, the fight is not over but has just begun. Next, you need to dry out items that absorbed any moisture. These items may appear to be fine, but unless you get every last bit of moisture out of them, they can still suffer from permanent damage. While this step is best handled by restoration experts with commercial gear like industrial fans and dehumidifiers, you can still do simple things to speed up the drying process like opening up doors and windows and using whatever fans and dehumidifiers you do have.

Call For Help

Finally, the most important thing you can do to ensure effective water damage restoration is to call for professional help. Professional water damage restoration companies have the equipment, experience, and manpower necessary to get the job done right and get it done for good the first time around. Relying on a DIY water damage restoration approach can leave you stuck with lingering damage that you were unable to fully mitigate during the cleaning process.

We at ICC are dedicated to ensuring your home gets the best possible care and that there are no lingering water damage consequences from the flood. Give us a call for any water damage restoration needs you may have.