Flood Cleanup Requires Dealing With Mold And Contaminated Water
When your home floods due to heavy rain, it may not be possible to dry it out quickly. Fast action is always important when it comes to water damage, but it may be days until the water recedes and you can return to your home. This can result in two serious complications on top of water damage: contamination from stagnant water and mold. Here's a look at how a restoration company may handle the flood damage cleanup after the water has gone down.
Tear Out Affected Materials
If your home has been wet for days, then you can expect to have a lot of water damage. It may not be possible to save many of the things in your home from furniture to drywall and flooring. Everything that can be thrown out is removed from the home and set aside to haul away. With all the damage out of the house, it's possible to assess the situation more fully to see what kind of restoration needs to be done.
Clean Up Contamination
Everything in your home that mold or water touched is considered contaminated. This is one reason getting it out of the house speeds up the restoration. Everything the remains has to be washed down to kill bacteria and microbes from the contaminated water as well as mold and mold spores. There could also be a layer of contaminated mud on the floor and walls that needs to be scraped out. This is dangerous work and requires that the workers wear protective gear, so they aren't exposed to germs and mold.
Start To Rebuild
Once all the water-damaged building materials are removed, and the remaining wood structure has been decontaminated, it's time to start rebuilding your home. Before any reconstruction starts, it's important that the home is completely dry and that no dampness lurks inside that could be covered up and begin to mold.
Depending on the degree of water damage, it may be necessary to tear most of the house down and rebuild it from the ground up. It's also possible your home will just need new flooring and drywall. A professional assessment is done to assure the structure of the home is still sound and safe to restore.
Restoring a home after flood damage can take a lot of work and a long time. A flood is a different situation from a burst pipe that floods your house with clean water that is dried out right away. If the flood has damaged your entire neighborhood, the electricity and water to your home may be cut off for days which makes it even harder to work on your home. Although a flood is a very stressful and unpleasant event to experience, given time, your home can be replaced or restored, so it's good as new.