What to Do if Your Home Gets Water Damage

Water is great in a swimming pool, or in a glass filled with ice. Seeping into our homes? Not so much. If you’ve had the unfortunate experience of a leak or water break in your house, there are some steps you’ll want to take to prevent as much water damage as possible.

First things first: make sure you call a professional! This is precisely the reason why we offer St. Louis a 24/7 emergency water extraction line. The faster you call us, the more quickly we can get to your house to start extracting water and provide restoration efforts. After you’ve done that, follow these guidelines to minimize damage to your furniture and belongings while we head to your home.

Water damage prevention tips:

1. Shut off the valves that allow water into your house. These are usually located in the basement, utility, or laundry room.

2. Depending on the severity of flooding, use a Shop-Vac or similar device to get some of the water out. This will help to prevent further damage to your floors and furniture.

3. Move any undamaged items to a dry area, so that they don’t become affected by the additional moisture that is now in the room.

4. Place tinfoil under furniture with legs. If they become soaked, stained wooden legs can transfer their dyes to your carpet. If this happens, your carpet could face further water damage!

5. If you’ve got wet clothing or other articles, don’t pile them up. This encourages mold and mildew to grow. You are better off hanging the clothes outside to dry (if there is sunlight), or taking them to a dry cleaner.

6. Lift any draperies up to prevent water reaching them. You can keep them in their place, but get them up off the floor by putting them on clothes hangers and hooking the hanger onto the rod above.

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