What To Do If Your Office Gets Flooded?
By: 911 Water Damage Experts
If you notice there is some unwanted water in your office, you need to know how to act appropriately, and fast!
The difference in the damage changes as every minute passes. The sooner you act, the more money you will save, and the more property you will manage to preserve.
What you need to remember is that safety comes first.
Make sure to turn the power off in all rooms which are affected, and if needed, turn off the electricity in the entire house/building.
Watch yourself and walk very carefully, especially when you are transferring from carpeted onto hard areas.
If you see a place where the ceiling is soaking, avoid walking underneath it so you can avoid getting injured.
Make sure to relieve the water that has been building up by punching a little hole wherever needed.
Do not turn on any lights. Do not turn on any appliances.
Instead of all these things, you should immediately do the following:
Locate and stop the source flooding your office
All you need to do is find the source of the leakage. If it is fresh water from the plumbing, then you need to turn off the valve.
In those cases when you are unable to locate the source of the leak, then the first thing you should do is turn off the main water supply. And if you cannot find that, then call a professional plumber to do this.
You can even contact the fire department too!
If the source of the water was clean, try to remove as much water as you can
There are some specific approved UL wet/dry vacuums that you can use.
Do not use a normal vacuum cleaner. Get some clean towels and cloths to prevent the water from spreading elsewhere.
If the water is from a contaminated source, then do not attempt to clean it up yourself, but rather turn to a professional water damage company to do it for you.
1. Take out all the clothes, furniture, and everything else from the affected areas and place them in a clean area where they can dry out.
Take all lightweight furniture and place it in an unaffected area. You can even put some Styrofoam under it so it does not drip directly on the floor.
Wipe down the legs on the chairs or anything else that you have removed from your furniture. If you have curtains that are affected, make sure to remove them as well and place them on the floor.
2. Take down all the valuable paintings from the walls and open the doors and the windows and let the space dry out.
Wipe down the wet furniture and open any drawers so they can properly vent.
Remove any affected carpets or anything that has been in touch with the contaminated water.
3. Call a professional to help. Sometimes it doesn’t matter if you are looking at minor or larger water damage, it is best to get in touch with water removal experts and let them take over. They will know how severe the situation is and the exact way how to handle it.
Must-Know Types Of Water To Look Out For
You should be aware that not all water is the same.
There are several types of water that pass through our homes and all of them have various charts when it comes to cleanliness and bacteria.
Sometimes the water can be a very unwelcome factor in the home.
In these cases, you need to be aware that there are three different types of water. Now, before we get into each category, we should probably let you know that sometimes, the lines can become blurry.
This means that the water can be from different sources and it would be difficult to determine under which category it falls.
After all, the water that you were dealing with at the beginning and the water after only a couple of hours can be very different.
Now let’s get into the three types.
1. Clean water: Clean water is the water you drink in your home, as it is from the moment it left the pipes.
It does not contain any chemicals and it would not do any damage at first.
However, what you need to keep in mind is that this water may have passed through some sources or was mixed with other types of water and at a certain point, might be contaminated.
And of course, as more bacteria build up in the water, it becomes more and more contaminated.
However, for the sake of the argument, clean water is one that has just left the pipes. It is the safest type of water and could come from a source such as a dishwasher or washing machine.
2. Gray water: This is the type of water that has been contaminated and is deemed unsanitary.
If it is consumed, it might cause sickness or discomfort. This is because it contains some harmful microorganisms.
Water from punctured beds, water from an aquarium, and the discharge from washing machines could fall under this category type of water.
If you come in contact with gray water, then you need to remove yourself and your family from the premises and get a professional water removal company to help with the cleaning part.
It’s worth noting that if you leave gray water without cleaning it up then it might get even more contaminated and pose an even bigger threat to the health of your family and home.
3. Black water: Black water is extremely contaminated and you should steer clear from it at all costs.
This means that it contains a high level of harmful elements. Some common types are known as water coming from a sewer, rising water from rivers, seawater, ground surface water, etc.
Black water can contain anything from medical waste to pesticides and other harmful chemicals.
Do not attempt to clean this type of water by yourself. Instead, you should call an experienced professional water damage company that is properly trained in this type of water removal.
Does Insurance Cover Everything Water Damage Related In My Office?
In most cases, insurance covers the water damage done in your home office.
However, this is not always the case.
Before this type of issue even occurs in the home office, you need to take a thorough look at your insurance policy and make sure that it covers everything you need.
If you have any questions about it, contact your insurance company and talk to someone who can help you there.
Many companies tend to exclude the flooding factor from the insurance policy, so you may need to add a separate clause for that. Some of the companies even exclude sewer-related water issues.
Check for all exclusions that your insurance policy has and ask how you can upgrade it.
Also, in most cases, you will need to pay a certain amount of money when it comes to restoring your home before the insurance company starts covering the expenses.
There is a certain type of coverage with most companies which includes covering the damage the water does to your home, but not the cost of the repair.
In addition to all of this, there are many insurance companies that add a clause that states the owner should do their best to prevent any further damage to the home.
This means that the insurance company wants you to give your best to prevent the water damage from spreading everywhere in your home and worsening the situation.
The proper way to do this would be to remove all the furniture out of the way, shut off the water source, and call a professional water damage company immediately after the water damage happens.
You can get in touch with a damage restoration company, however, keep in mind that they are not a professional insurance company and may not interpret your insurance as clearly as they should, but, they will be able to keep the water at bay.
Naturally, in this case, you might need to pay a deductible once a technician arrives, and you might get reimbursed by the insurance company.
And in some cases, you will not get reimbursed.
All in all, what you need to keep in mind is that the insurance company wants some proof that shows you have done your best in preserving the health and safety of your home when the water damage happened.
If you have done everything to prevent the water from spreading, they will appreciate it and provide you with as much help as you need.
A Carpet Cleaner Is Not Your Best Choice
Once you start dealing with water damage in your office, you need the best professionals that can help you get your home back to its previous state.
Remind yourself that, if you go for the option of calling carpet cleaning professionals, you might not get the best service you deserve.
This is mostly because these people may be professionals at cleaning carpets, but they might not be professionals at removing excess water or damaged goods from a certain property.
If you want to handle the situation like a professional, then you need to get in touch with a professional water damage company to make it happen.
They will have the proper equipment, including instruments that monitor the level of moisture in walls, floors, and ceilings.
They will have adequate water damage tools that will help thoroughly dry out the damaged area, in some cases without even leaving a lot of consequences behind.
A specialized water damage company will even make sure to prevent mould and mildew, or the spread of bacteria from happening, which is a plus side to every homeowner.
Commercial dehumidifiers are an important part of their equipment too, so all in all, they will do their best to make sure that your home is well-preserved and healthy.
Talk to a few companies and see what they offer.
See their certifications and their experience and even check out some of their reviews.
Even though you might need to do this in a very short amount of time, it is a necessary process that can help you make the decision of which company would be the best fit for you in case you deal with water damage in your office.
Remember, you deserve to get professional water damage service from an experienced team, and do not settle for anything less. Or all stresses that come with it may infest again and cost you even more.
If you have any questions about our article “What To Do If Your Office Gets Flooded?” or need a water damage restoration company feel free to call us at 1-833-WE-DRY-IT or chat with us in near real-time on our Facebook fan page.
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