What to Do After Water Damage in Your House and Why Act Fast
The water damage restoration process should begin within 24 hours
Highlights
Above all, keep yourself and your family safe. Belongings and structures can be replaced.
Stop or slow the source of the water, if possible.
The earlier you start the restoration process, the easier and more affordable your solution will be.
You can DIY some aspects of the job, but you’ll likely need to call in a professional for help.
Water damage can ruin your home faster than you might think. Within the first 24 hours of a leak or flood, mold development, damage to floors, walls, and electrical components, and even structural issues can occur. Whether you’re dealing with a leaky pipe or a flooded basement, identifying the source and stopping any further water escaping is top priority. This is why it’s always best to hire a water damage restoration company immediately to make any repairs and protect your home.
How Bad Is Water Damage?
There’s no easy way around this. Water damage is bad and leads to all kinds of related consequences. First, there’s the water damage itself, which erodes building materials, appliances, fixtures, and furniture as it sits and pools, with electronics being especially susceptible to damage or even short-circuiting.
Then, there’s mold. Mold and mildew thrive with water damage and are a particular concern when the moisture hides behind walls and in other difficult-to-reach areas. To top it off, depending on where the water came from, water damage leads to health concerns, as sitting water often features all manner of germs and bacteria.
Steps to Take When There Is Water Damage
When there’s a flood or major leak, there are some immediate practical and safety considerations. Here are the first things to do.
Remove pets and children from the house, especially if the damage is severe.
If possible, gather up any accessible valuables and work to contain the leak by addressing the initial cause.
Turn off the breaker box, but only if it is located in a dry part of the home. To avoid electric shock, do not access the breaker box if it is anywhere near water damage. If it is wet or near water, call the utility company and ask them to turn it off from their end. If that’s not possible, ask them to send someone out.
If you find a plumbing leak coming from a burst pipe or plumbing fixture, shut your water off at the water main to prevent further leaking. If the water meter is located beyond standing water, shut your breaker box off first to avoid shock. If the breaker box isn’t in a dry area, skip this step entirely.
Contact your insurance company as soon as you can, and be honest about the extent of the water damage and its original cause. According to the Insurance Information Institute, the average insurance claim for water damage is $13,954.
If the water damage comes from a backed-up sewer or if the water is grey or black, wait for professionals before touching or dealing with it, as it is a serious biohazard risk.
Call a professional water damage remediation company immediately to start the repairs. They will often work with your insurance company to ensure they have adequate documentation before repairs begin.
Hiring a Pro for Water Damage
Once you establish it’s safe to reenter the home, the quicker any cleanup and water damage restoration takes place, the better. To minimize the spread of mold and the risk of serious structural damage, contact a water damage restoration pro within 24 to 48 hours.
The restoration expert will assess the level of water damage and the amount of work needed to make your home safely habitable once again. The work involved with water damage restoration includes drying and replacing flooring, drywall, insulation, and belongings.
Tips to Dry Out the Home
Before any structural repairs take place, you will need to dry out your home. This is particularly challenging if the electricity is still off and you live in a humid region. For minor bouts of water damage, you can dry out the home on your own, but you’ll need help from a professional for larger damage.
Here are some tips to dry the affected areas of your home quickly. It takes at least a day or two for your home to dry out fully, with some jobs requiring weeks of active drying.
Start quickly to minimize the chances of mold forming. Remember, mold appears within 24 hours of water damage and the spores easily spread to parts of your home not affected by water damage, and mold is a health risk, even if it’s not severe.
Floor fans, dehumidifiers, air conditioners, and wet/dry vacs are all your friends during this process and all help to prevent mold on carpet after water damage. Start with these tools as needed. Place floor fans in bathrooms and near affected drywall. Use a wet/dry vac on flooring and place dehumidifiers wherever necessary.
Open windows and doors to get air circulating.
Remove any drenched objects, such as furniture, from the home. This prevents them from leaking onto fixtures, flooring, and nearby walls.
Fan dry books and papers, wet page by wet page. If you don’t have time for this lengthy process, bag up the books in plastic bags and place them in the freezer. Retrieve them later when you have time.
Replace Damaged Wood, Drywall, and Porous Materials
If you've experienced a flood, burst pipe, or some other type of severe water damage that has soaked or submerged your home's wooden structures, drywall, or other porous material, it's best to replace them.
Porous material like drywall will absorb water, making it difficult to dry out and leading to potential mold growth. Wood that is damaged from being wet for a long period of time is susceptible to rot and possible collapse. If these materials have sustained serious damage by water, you should call in a local wall repair service to replace them.
How Quickly Does Water Damage Progress?
Even a seemingly harmless, small leak can be problematic. Water spreads rapidly and absorbs into floors, walls, soft furnishings, and more. If you leave water damage too long, your insurance may not cover it, and the cost of water damage to your home could be hefty. Everything from signs of basement water damage to musty odors should be investigated by a professional as quickly as possible to avoid devastation.
Within the First 24 Hours
As a leak or flood spreads, it will soak everything in its vicinity. This means that personal belongings, such as books and photographs, can immediately bulge and warp beyond repair. Soft furnishings and upholstery will soak through, and walls and floors will begin to absorb the water. Drywall, furniture, wooden doors, and window frames can swell. Plus, paint or wallpaper can peel or blister, and it can corrode electrical systems, or worse—cause short circuits and electrical fires.
If the leak is in your roof, the water could come through ceilings and cause damage to insulation and wooden beams. Most worryingly, though, mold can begin to develop within the first 24 hours of a water damage incident.
Within the First Week
After that initial day, the water damage will develop further. Mold can spread rapidly and the site can become a biohazard. The damage to wood surfaces and walls intensifies, and metal surfaces can start corroding.
After a Week
If you leave water damage for more than a week, the timescales, costs, and effort involved in any restoration work will increase significantly. Mold will also spread dramatically, and the risks associated with structural damage are greater.
What Causes Water Damage?
There are a whole lot of issues that cause water damage, some sudden and some over time. Below are some of the most common causes of water damage:
Flooding of any kind, especially from a natural disaster.
Inclement weather, especially if you have small cracks in the roof or if severe winds blow out a window or a related fixture.
Leaks of any kind are especially dangerous as they often occur behind the walls, leading to copious damage before you notice it. Common leak sources include rusty and corroded pipes, high water pressure, extreme temperatures, broken water connectors, and more.
Sewage back up coming from your pipes and pouring out through your water fixtures.
Clogged gutters can overflow over time, leading to water damage.
Faulty or malfunctioning appliances like washing machines, dishwashers, and air conditioners.
Can You DIY Water Damage Restoration Work?
If you’ve only experienced a small leak under your sink, for example, it is easy enough to remove all the items affected by water damage to assess them for salvageability. Then, drying out the space is just a matter of using the proper tools and time.
However, if the water damage is near the breaker box, appliances, or electrical outlets, call in an experienced pro to ensure safety. The same goes for major water damage, no matter the location. Restoration contractors can easily assess if there is any hidden damage that requires repairs.
Keep in mind that your homeowner’s insurance company may also only pay for the damages if the repairs are carried out by a certified professional. Speak with your insurance provider before proceeding to avoid surprise charges and coverage denials.
How to Prevent Water Damage Around Your Home
While you can’t prepare for natural disasters, you can take a few preventative measures to avoid some water damage to your house. Follow these essential steps to keep water from invading your home.
Clean Your Gutters
Your gutters protect your home from water damage by removing rainwater from your roof and away from your home’s foundation. If gutters become clogged, they’ll overflow, which can lead to leaks that cause water damage. Clean your gutters twice a year, or after a big storm with lots of debris, to keep the system working properly. Consider installing gutter guards to prevent clogging as well.
Check Your Chimney
A chimney sweep should inspect your chimney at least once yearly to look for loose mortar and bricks. Any cracks in our chimney could lead to troublesome leaks. If the pro spots damage, make repairs right away to avoid water leaking into your home.
Waterproof Your Basement or Crawl Space
For added peace of mind, consider waterproofing your basement or crawl spaces. Waterproofing these areas will protect them from water damage if there is a flood or burst pipe and lower the chances of foundation damage and mold growth.
Another appeal to waterproofing basements and crawl spaces is the return on investment (ROI). Basement waterproofing has an ROI of about 30%. You can call a local basement waterproofing company to help seal up your lower level.
Get a Sump Pump
Your basement or crawl space should have a sump pump to defend your home against flooding, which could cause major damage. A sump pump is particularly important if you live in a flood zone or an area that receives a lot of rainfall.
Get a Roof Inspection
A roofer should inspect your roof once a year to check for missing or broken shingles or cracks that could let water into your home. If the pro finds any damage to your roof, be sure to have them repair it immediately to protect against interior water damage.
Caulk Any and All Cracks
Whether it’s outside or inside, cracks are an almost guaranteed entry point for unwelcome water. Focus on windows and door wells, and fill every crack you see with caulk. Proper caulking will seal off your home to prevent water damage—and a dry home is a happy home!
Frequently Asked Questions
There are several problems that can happen if you don’t treat water damage. One of the most severe issues that can occur is the weakening of your home's structural integrity. Once the wood in your home absorbs water, it can rot and possibly collapse. Untreated water damage can also ruin your electrical systems, corrode plumbing, destroy your ceilings and walls, and cause mold growth. A less serious but unpleasant consequence is floor warping. Can standing water damage the foundation? Yes, pressure and water absorption from standing water can cause foundational cracking, swelling, and lifting.
You don’t need much water to cause damage, though this depends largely on the affected areas. Hardwood floors, for instance, damage with any amount of pooling water left to sit for a day or so, leading to buckling planks and other repair issues. Drywall fares a bit better, as there are processes to dry it out, but if the components retain more than one percent of moisture, you’ll need to replace them. With ceiling water damage, having plaster ceilings instead of drywall ceilings could buy you slightly more time because plaster is more resistant to water.
Mold in a home can range from mostly innocuous to entirely toxic, depending on a few factors. If you’re dealing with Stachybotrys chartarum, commonly referred to as “black mold,” then symptoms can be severe. Inhaling spores of this mold can cause respiratory issues, allergic reactions, and irritation of the eyes, nose, and throat, according to the Centers for Disease Prevention and Control (CDC). People with existing health issues are at an elevated risk. Even less severe mold spores can cause allergic reactions and discomfort, so you should always deal with mold quickly.
Just because mold dries out doesn't mean it dies or is gone for good. Once it's dry, mold will become dormant for a while until it is again exposed to a new moisture source or humidity. Once that happens, it will reactivate and grow and be at greater risk of becoming airborne.
In many cases, water damage will dry on its own within a few weeks. However, just because the water dries out doesn't mean you should ignore it. If you don't address water damage immediately, it can lead to mold growth and other problems with your home. In severe cases, water damage can compromise your home's or foundation's structural integrity, so it's best to tackle it head-on, even if you believe the water has dried up.