1. Stop the Source of Water: The water should be shut off from the main line at the house until a plumber can locate and repair the leak.
2. Protect Yourself from Electrical Shock: So protect your family first. Locate your electric panel, turn off outlet breakers. Most often you will find the breaker panel on the exterior garage wall between your home and your neighbors’.
3. Furniture Moving: Carefully remove furniture from the affected areas and protect with plastic. Light furniture and knick knacks should be moved to an unaffected area. Place aluminum foil or plastic under each leg to protect unaffected flooring from furniture stain that can bleed and cause a permanent damage.
4. Moisture Detection: Moisture sensing tools should be used to track and locate the extent of damage. Often water will flow into hidden areas behind baseboards, through walls, under laminate flooring, throughout carpet pad and various other flooring materials that you may not be aware of. When all the affected areas are identified, an appropriate drying system should be set up using turbo fans and dehumidifiers.
5. Risk Assessment Associated With Asbestos And Lead: Homes built prior to 1978 may have lead in paint and asbestos in various building materials. Appropriate steps to identify and remove lead and asbestos safely and responsibly should be adhered to in order to keep you and your family safe from these hazardous materials.
6. Contents and Area Protection: Protecting your contents and living space from dust and debris is a priority. Plastic will be used to protect non affected areas from dust and debris.
7. Remove Wet Materials: Depending on the water source, most wet materials should be removed and bagged for disposal. Professional assessment is used to determine what is appropriate. All standing water needs extracted and properly disposed of.
8. Removal of Bagged Debris: All demo debris should be removed from the property and properly disposed of. The areas should be cleaned and vacuumed leaving it as mess-free as reasonably possible. This step is important in controlling the scattering of dust throughout.
9. Treat Affected Areas With Disinfectant As Appropriate: You should be presented with and provide a material safety data sheet (MSDS) prior to application of disinfectants. Disinfecting is an important step which will retard or prevent the spread and growth of harmful bacteria and microbial.
10. Equipment Set Up, Run 24/7: The equipment is designed to run throughout the entire drying process. Most of the time a 72 hour drying period is adequate. Turning off the equipment will extend the drying process and increase the cost to your insurance company.
PLEASE KEEP CHILDREN AND PETS AWAY FROM THE AREA AT ALL TIMES.
