When flood damage occurs, the problems it leaves behind are often numerous, and expensive too. Whether it is caused by a damaged burst or pipe, or due to flood, heavy rains, and storms, your home is left in disarray after water damage, and you need help to put it together.
If you live in Melbourne, you might have been unlucky to get your property damaged by flash floods or heavy rainfall. If you have, the first thing to search for is ‘flood damage restoration Melbourne’ and you need to do this as soon as possible so that the repairs can be done before the damage worsens. It is always best to allow professionals to handle your drainage, drying, and the cleanup process that follows.
How Does Flood Damage Restoration Happen?
The process of flood damage restoration can be a very stressful one as the steps are complex, beginning with the water removal, then going on to drying, and material repairs. It is even more difficult if the damage is major or it affected a large area in which case it would take a few days to carry out conclusively. Here are the steps entailed in flood damage restoration.
1. Situation Assessment
The first step that a restoration company will take is to carry out a damage assessment. They will begin this by asking some generic questions about the extent of the damage. Following that conversation, they will send their team to carry out a thorough assessment, checking every area of your house so that they can tell the extent of the damage, the cause, as well as the nature of work that needs to be done for the restoration to be carried out.
2. Water Removal
Once the damage assessment is complete and the water damage restoration company takes up the job, the first thing they will do is remove any leftover water within your home. They do this with the aid of vacuums and pumps, and it helps them to extract a lot of water in no time. The size of the pump and vacuum they use will depend on how much water is stuck in your home.
After using the devices to clear out all the water within your house quickly to avoid worsening the situation, they can move on to the next step.
3. Cleaning and Sanitizing
Once all the water is cleared out, the house will need to be cleaned, and the affected areas sanitized. The team will wash and dry everything within your home that has come in contact with the water, including furniture, clothes, and electronic devices, and then sanitize them to avoid infection.
Sanitization and disinfection are important to prevent contamination that can happen within one day of the flooding if care is not taken. Terrible smells are also preventable through deep cleaning activities. It is always good to sanitize against microbial substances as well as fungus.
4. Drying
Following the removal of water from all surfaces, the restoration team will then begin drying all corners of the room. When they come to areas that are hard to dry, they use tools such as air scrubbers, dehumidifiers, and air movers to dry out these places. They can work faster and reach all the needed areas with these tools.
5. Cleanup
This is the final step carried out during the flood damage restoration process. After the team has removed all the things that need to be taken out and dried them, it then cleans up everything that needs to be cleaned. Then, you will be asked to inspect everything to be sure that the work done is up to your satisfaction. Once you approve the work that has been done, they can hang their gloves knowing that they have done their job.
There is hardly any kind of water damage you can’t have a professional cleaning company handle, no matter how complex they can be.
Categories of Water Damage
When categorizing water damage, you consider the source of the damage, as well as the possible contaminations, and the materials the water came in contact with. They include Clean, Grey, and Black water.
1. Clean/Sanitary Water
This water damage category is for water that comes from a clean source and doesn’t pose a potential risk to those exposed to it, whether from inhalation, contact with skin, or ingestion. Rainwater, water from supply lines, toilet bowls, and melting snow are under this category.
2. Grey Water
This category is for water with significant contamination with the possibility of causing discomfort or disease to humans who consume or come in contact with it. The sources of water under this category include washing machine or dishwashing water, toilet bowls with urine, damaged aquariums, or Hydrostatic pressure seepage.
3. Black Water
This category of water is highly contaminated and could contain toxic and pathogenic substances that can cause major reactions or ailments to people exposed to them. Water sources under this category include seawater, water from sewages and waste lines, overflow from streams and rivers, or rain from tropical storms or hurricanes carried by the wind.
When dealing with water damage under this category, it is important to hand it over to a professional who will remove all affected materials including carpets, chairs, hardwood floors, insulation, and the like.
Effects of Flood Damage
When flood damage occurs, it is important to carry out flood damage restoration to avoid or handle all potential damages to your building, property, and health.
1. Health Issues
If you don’t remove yourself from the environment when flood damage occurs, you could develop allergic reactions to the damp, moss, and mildew that will develop. You could suffer infections and even an attack on your immune system, which could cause a major health emergency.
2. Damaged Carpet
When flooding occurs, the first thing that gets damaged is your carpet. However, it can be salvaged if you rescue it on time. If you leave your carpet in the water for a long time, mold will grow on it, and its fibers will become home to all kinds of bacteria. Before you know it, your carpet would be giving off an awful smell that you can’t handle.
Wool carpets are more prone to these issues, but all carpets need to be removed before mold grows on them. Otherwise, you would need to buy new carpets.
Be quick to reach out to a professional to soak the water off your carpets quickly and dry them before they deteriorate. The more the carpet remains wet, the more it causes damage to your door, door frames, and even furniture, which is creating more damage that you’ll need to expend money and energy repairing.
3. Structural Problems
The very structure of your home is at risk of damage if the flood is left for a long time before being attended to. Several parts of your house are more prone to water damage, and you should look into these areas to determine if they have been damaged because of the flood.
Some structural damages that could occur because of flood damage include flooring damage, and you can detect this when you see buckled and warped floorboards, which is a sign of extreme water damage. Another sign is moist, soft, or swollen drywall. Your drywall might soak up water when the flood/water makes its way into your room and lasts for a long time.
You will always need professional help to handle structural problems caused by water or flood damage, so call an expert immediately if you notice such signs.
What if you want to handle the flood damage restoration yourself?
While you can handle the flood damage restoration yourself, the fact is that you can only successfully handle minor issues. In a case where the damage is major and the water is prone to contamination, it would be risky for your health if you chose to handle it without the right experience and expertise. Your furniture and building structure might also suffer a lot of damage before you can conclude the job. In the worst-case scenario, you might even worsen the situation while trying to restore things.
You need to seek professional help, such as a flood damage restoration Melbourne’ if you are within the city and need flood damage restoration. Ensure to make this call immediately after the flooding occurs because early damage detection will help you save and repair as many things as possible, while late handling will lead to more things getting damaged and destroyed.
Do you Need Professional Flood Damage Restoration?
Yes. You do. The damage that comes from a flood isn’t just instant but can continue to worsen in just a few days. Your household items and even walls will be negatively affected by the water, and if you don’t handle the drying and cleaning in a short time, you are likely to face more damage. You can’t trust amateurs to handle this, especially if it was major flood damage.