Flooded Bathroom? Here Are a Few Essential Recovery Steps
A flooded bathroom can be a disaster. Not only is it a huge inconvenience, but it can also cause extensive water damage if not dealt with quickly and properly. Ineffective recovery can be disastrous for your home’s infrastructure.
It’s vitally important to take the steps to minimize the damage of flooding, and to effectively recover from it so that you can get your bathroom back to normal again. Here, we will talk about how you can keep the damage from a flood to a minimum, as well as provide 10 essential steps to ensure your bathroom returns to its former glory.
How to Minimize Damage From Flooding
To minimize the damage from a flooded bathroom, it’s important to act immediately. Removing excess water quickly and thoroughly is of utmost importance. To guarantee proper recovery, it’s a good idea to consult with a water damage professional as soon as possible who can follow the necessary procedures to ensure safe removal of all moisture that could lead to potential hazards.
Steps You Can Take to Recover From a Flooded Bathroom
When dealing with a flooded bathroom, here are the essential 10 steps to take for an effective recovery:
1. Locate Source of Flooding and Cut Off the Water Supply
The first step is to locate the main water supply that’s allowing water into your bathroom, in effort to avoid further flooding and make sure that any leaking stops. This step is essential to minimize damage and recover from flooding.
2. Clean Up Any Standing Water
Use a wet/dry vacuum, towels, buckets, and other absorbent materials to remove any water that has been collected on the ground until a professional can get there to address the issue and the damage. Taking care of this can significantly help your bathroom recovery, and get everything prepared for when a professional arrives.
3. Call a Water Damage Specialist
When a bathroom is flooded—it’s essential for the recovery and restoration process to be done correctly and efficiently, or it could have serious repercussions for your home and your bank account. Contact a professional such as Integrity Restoration and Remodeling to make sure the job is done right.
4. Move Contents Out of Affected Area
Remove anything that has been or can be affected by the water damage, such as furniture, rugs, devices, or any other contents to prevent damage to these items. Some things unfortunately may not be salvageable due to extensive water damage. Assess the damage and consult with a professional to get advice as to which items may not be safe to keep.
Steps a Professional Will Handle to Address Flood Damage
A professional restoration specialist will work with your insurance company to take care of flooding damage following industry standards.
1. Clean and Dry the Area
A water damage professional has the tools and equipment necessary to properly manage the affected area. They’ll thoroughly and safely clean and dry the area to guarantee that there isn’t any lasting damage that can affect your home’s safety and your family’s health.
2. Remove Damaged Drywall and Flooring
These professionals will safely remove any drywall, carpet, insulation, or other materials that have been affected by the flooding and their crews can dispose of them accordingly.
3. Disinfect Surfaces
With a flooded bathroom, there’s a lot of potential bacteria that can be spread. A water damage professional will use a combination of an antimicrobial cleaning solution, HEPA vacuum, and a mild detergent as part of the restoration process to control bacteria and prevent any fungal growth.
4. Conduct Thorough Visual Inspection
A professional will ensure that the area looks clean and safe after following the previous steps of remediation. The industry standard is to have zero visible mold and dust within the affected area in an effort to eliminate any issues from returning later.
5. Dehumidify the Area
Once the drying, cleaning, and inspection processes are complete, a water damage professional will run a dehumidifier in the room for any affected materials, ensuring no moisture is left. Leaving any kind of moisture in the area could cause mold to grow.
If you have experienced a flooded bathroom and don’t know what to do, or if you need help with making sure the damage is minimized and addressed correctly, Integrity Restoration and Remodeling is just a phone call away. Contact us today to make sure you can recover from flooding effectively.