When a flood occurs in your Southern California home or property there is always going to be a delay between when the flood happens and when professional help arrives. With seasonal flooding affecting many San Diego homes and businesses we here at Clean Earth Restorations wanted to offer tips to help mitigate the potential damage while you wait for professional help.
Safety
Your primary concern with flooding should always be your own safety. Buildings are replaceable. People are not. For this reason avoid wading through standing water without proper safety gear as there are many health risks including water borne bacteria and possible electrical shock from submerged circuitry. Water-tight rubber boots should be fine if the water doesn’t pass the top of the boot. Otherwise avoid any contact with the water if possible.
Drying
If standing water is not a problem then your next step should be trying to get a decent airflow through the house. Thanks to San Diego’s dry desert climate drying often only takes letting in outside air. Open as many windows and doors as possible to help get a decent airflow through the house as quickly as possible.
Fans are extremely useful in the drying process as well. Chances are you don’t have professional grade drying fans but even just the application of household fans to blow moist air out of doors and windows can be extremely useful. We would also recommend you target darker low airflow areas with fans as these can often be the places most affected with mold. Basements aren’t especially common in San Diego but if you have one that is affected it is important to try and angle fans at perimeter walls and other high risk areas.
Salvaging
If carpets, upholstered furniture or any type of fabric is exposed to water damage chances are it won’t be salvageable. If you have any at risk items that have yet to be affected by water damage try and move them outside as prolonged exposure to wet environments will likely have a negative effect on these items.
Get Professional Help
The most important thing to remember in the event of a flood as that professional help will always be the best way to prevent further damage and loss. Contact us or your insurance as soon as there are any signs of indoor flooding. Even the most minor flood can cause severe damage if not dealt with immediately.
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