Initially, after a flood in your Bethesda, MD home, you need to ensure that you and your family are safe being present on the property. Floods are responsible for more fatalities each year than most catastrophes, including hurricanes, lightning storms, or tornadoes. They leave homes and businesses in shambles, with the need for extensive repairs and, in some cases, replacements to the structure.
You’ll need to immediately contact your insurance carrier and a trusted, reputable water damage abatement specialist, one of whom you can find at https://www.restoreunow.com/water-damage-bethesda-md/ in the Bethesda area. The professionals can help you assess the damage level and ensure safety while maneuvering through the home.
You need to take caution with gas lines, appliances, and any type of electrical machinery to avoid potential shocks or possible explosions.
Water Damage Pros Recommended Dos and Don’ts for Flood Cleanup
For safety purposes, homeowners in Bethesda need to contact the insurance carrier immediately following a flood and ultimately reach out to a water damage abatement professional. The specialist can come onto the property before entering to ensure safety and then follow through with assessing the damages.
While it’s essential to get the house dried out as quickly as possible to avoid mold and mildew, you also need to follow specific guidelines to prevent hazards. The dos and don’ts as outlined by the professionals for the optimum in caution and protection include:
Dos
- Pay attention to pests, wildlife, and rodents that might have washed into the house with the floodwater. This is a superb reason to have a specialist go through the home before you or your family has a chance to enter. No one wants to be surprised by giant, nasty mosquitoes or bugs, let alone the potential for snakes or rats, even mice.
- Specialists will look for damage to the foundation, any cracks or harm to the home’s exterior, plus breaks in power or gas lines and attempt to detect odors signifying possible leaks.
- The structure will be closely inspected for things like slants in the walls and floors, staircases that have shifted, pilings that have become broken, or any other obvious signs that there is a need for water damage restoration.
- Immediately in flood conditions, power and water should be shut down, but this is not something that you do if you need to stand in water to do so.
Don’ts
- Water damage abatement professionals will caution you to stay off the property until an assessment can determine if there are significant structural damages that could pose a hazard. The specialists will remove these before you enter.
- The power and water will come back on when the companies ensure that it’s safe to do so. You should never switch on a ceiling fan or turn on ceiling lights if the surface area of the ceiling is wet.
The cleaning process after a flood is not only labor-intensive; it can be dangerous if not handled adequately and safely, which is why you should avoid attempting to DIY. As a homeowner project, there is an extensive cost in materials, equipment, supplies, and an immeasurable amount of time to even scratch the surface, depending on your level of flood damage. Go here for tips on dealing with water damages.
An insurance carrier will, in most instances, require that a professional contractor handle the load for your claim to be addressed. In some cases, only these individuals can get the necessary building permits also if those are necessary. As a homeowner in Bethesda, you want to ensure your home is restored to what you remember, and that often requires a contractor’s skill.
Final Thought
No one wants to face the tragedy of a natural disaster like flooding. There is the potential for losing things that hold sentiment for you and your family. Ideally, you will ensure that you have your home in Bethesda, MD, situated with an insurance carrier so that if you are a victim, you can reach out to water damage abatement specialists.
That way, when it is time for restoring the property, you have the fortune of looking forward to going back home as you know it to be.
