SERVPRO Tips: How to clean up properly after a storm

7/31/2020 (Permalink)

If a pipe bursts in your home you will likely have some flooding to handle. A flood from a storm, however, takes remediation to another level. Not only do you need to dry out your home, but you also will need to disinfect your home, both in areas that are directly affected and those that may be vulnerable to secondary damage.

The first step to remediating any water damage is to remove the excess water from the area. With a flood with Category 1 water, the process is pretty straightforward:

• Remove standing water
• Dry remaining surfaces
• Repair or replace damaged materials
  
  

Floodwater from a storm, however, is considered Category 3 water. It is contaminated and may contain all sorts of bacteria, viruses and other microbes. If you have flooding from a storm, flood mitigation experts must clean your home thoroughly after getting rid of the water.


Anything that comes into contact with the floodwater must be disinfected before your home is considered habitable again. Technicians use specific detergents and industrial-strength cleaners to make sure all surfaces are sterilized. Then they test to ensure that the cleaners did the job well.

Even if part of your home doesn’t have flood damage, it may still be impacted and need attention. For example, it is a good idea to have technicians clean your HVAC unit. That much floodwater can significantly increase the humidity in your home, making all of it susceptible to mold growth. Cleaning and drying the ducts can discourage fungus from growing in hidden areas.

While there’s no such thing as a good kind of flooding, damage from clean water can be easier to clean up than issues resulting from stormwater. Getting rid of the water is not enough; you must also make sure that your home is properly disinfected before technicians are finished with the job.

So give us a call! We are faster to any disaster and we are here to help get you back to "Like it never even happened."