Water Damage Checklist Resource Guide

1. Safety first. Leave the building if unsafe or turn off the power while wearing protective gear.
2. Stop the flow of water.
3. Call your insurance company.
4. Call and schedule a Water Damage Restoration service.
5. Remove your valuables and possessions from the area.
6. Start the drying process.
7. Make sure there is no mold.
8. Cleanup your property.
9. Restore the space.
10. Move back in.

Disasters are very traumatizing to have in your home. They affect you and your family emotionally, physically and mentally, so getting back to life as quickly as possible is best for you all. You may have experienced a leaking roof, broken appliance such as a dishwasher or washing machine, broken pipes or even sewage backups. Maybe you had a fire and have water damage from that.

Whatever the case, waste no time in getting it taken care of. The faster you act, the less permanent damage you will encounter. Health safety hazards can occur with mold growing as fast as 24 hours after the incident. Structural damage may be underlying without being obvious.

Use our ten guidelines below as a checklist for what steps to take next.

Ten guideline checklist to use when Water Damage occurs in your home in Las Vegas

1. Safety first. Leave the building if unsafe or turn off the power while wearing protective gear.

If you are in danger of flooding, exit the structure immediately. Once you have ensured that it is safe to remain in the building, protect yourself by wearing waterproof boots and gloves. Locate your circuit breaker box and switch off all of the breakers to turn off the power. Unplug electronics in the affected area such as TVs, computers and lights.

2. Stop the flow of water.

When the water damage is coming from a pipe or appliance, you will need to turn off the water supply. Locate the water shut-off valve and turn the water off to stop the flow of water. If the water is coming from an out door flood, use sandbags and ditching to divert the flow of water into your home. You may need an expert’s help to determine the source of the water if it is in the walls or the ceiling. At any rate, turning off the water supply will prevent the damage from getting worse.

3. Call your insurance company.

This may be your first time dealing with water damage, but your insurance company does it all the time. They will be a welcomed support system to help you through the process of paying for your water damage restoration. Read about water damage restoration costs in our detailed analysis here.

Call immediately to find out how your homeowners policy works and get a claims adjuster to the location to assess the damage. Insurance policies vary on what damage will be covered and what will not. Read about how flood insurance works.

Document and take inventory of the damaged possessions you have in the area. Take pictures of the water damage and the restoration process as it is underway. These steps taken may drastically help your insurance claim process.

4. Call and schedule a Water Damage Restoration service.

While you are taking these important steps to preserve and protect your home, call the professionals to get your job on their schedule. Drying out your flooded area will be done quicker with industrial strength equipment and therefore minimizing your chances of mold developing or structural damage occurring. Don’t make the mistake of thinking that you can do it all by yourself. It could cost you a lot of money. Call a professional Water Damage Restoration Company and then continue on with the remaining steps in our checklist.

5. Remove your valuables and possessions from the area.

Protect and preserve your possessions by removing anything that has not gotten wet to a safer dry space in your home. Wet items should be moved outside if possible. Lift up any furniture and place aluminum foil under each point that touches the carpet. This will protect your carpet from stain and your furniture from absorbing more water. Remove area rugs and hang to dry. Remove wet upholstery and fabrics and hang or set it up to dry elsewhere. Set out wet items such as books or decorations to dry in another space.

6. Start the drying process.

Again, this is best done by industrial equipment and professionals, but you can aid the process by mopping up or soaking up any standing water that you can with a mop or rags. If it is safe to turn the electricity back on, do so and then turn on air conditioning and fans. Hopefully, you’ve called a professional and they will be able to come quickly with their floor fans dehumidifiers to properly extract all of the moisture from your home. They will have moisture detectors and other modern technology to detect and remove water from hard to see places such as inside your walls or under kitchen cabinets. They will also be able to dry hardwood floors, as an example, or other parts of your home that could save you thousands of dollars not having to replace them completely. You want this process to being within 24 hours of the disaster in order to reduce the risk of mold, mildew and permanent damage.

7. Make sure there is no mold.

Some mold may be visible to the eye. It looks slimy or fuzzy and can be green, yellow, blue, gray, black, white and brown. It may spread in patches or small circles or look like a big dark stain. Mold can also have irregular shapes. You can test these spots quickly by dipping a swab in diluted bleach (1 part bleach, 16 parts water) and dab it on the wall. If the spot comes back after cleaning or it quickly lightens, you probably have mold.

Visible mold, however, will not show itself until 18-21 days after the water damage occurs. You will want to hire a trained professional Mold Inspector to physically look and test to make sure you have no mold in your home.

8. Cleanup your property

Go through your affected belongings and decide which have been damaged beyond repair or salvation. Discard what is not keepable after the insurance adjuster has made an assessment. Put any machine washable materials into the washing machine for a pre-wash cycle with cold water and strong detergent, then a hot water setting. Dry-clean fabrics should get brushed off and then taken to a professional dry cleaner. Hose off any solid plastics or metals that you intend to keep and wipe with a disinfectant wipe.

9. Restore the space

Fix the cause of the water damage first to be certain this doesn’t occur twice, then move on to the rest of your home. Some of the materials in your home may need to be removed and replaced if they weren’t dried out quick enough. A professional Water Damage Restoration company will be able to guide you in determining what is salvageable. Most companies will not be able to do the repair work after the water is removed. If you live in Las Vegas, One Call Will Fix It All with RSI Companies. RSI Companies holds 9 contractors licenses to help get your home back to normal without calling multiple companies and can deal directly with your insurance, making the process a breeze. Read about water damage restoration costs in our detailed analysis here.

Doing the work yourself is always an option if you are handy, but can also come with headaches, unforeseen costs and lots of extra time.

10. Move back in!

As long as your insurance company approves it along with a governing agency over a natural disaster, you’re set to move back into your home. If you’ve followed our checklist and guidelines, you can live with peace of mind knowing that your home is safe.

You Should Get Professional Help Dealing with Your Water Damage

Immediate attention to your water damaged area is crucial to saving valuable possessions, time, money and health. Follow our guided checklist about to assist in the process, but the bulk of the work needs to be professionally addressed by a Water Damage Restoration company. DIY restoration can easily overlook severe problems and waiting to call fo help can allow mold to develop. Contact RSI Companies in Las Vegas will get to your project instantly and help you get your life together again. “One Call Will Fix It All!”