Possibly the most important room in the house, the kitchen serves as a multi-purpose hub that goes beyond hoarding and cooking food. Seeing as a good portion of your family’s time is spent there, making sure the area remains clean and dry is important. Dealing with unexpected water damage that a flooded kitchen brings can put a damper on your day. Here’s what to do if you’re suffering such an incident.
Turn Off the Water
It’s important to shut off the water as soon as possible! If you’re uncertain about, call a plumber or ask your water damage restoration contractor to help you figure it out until a water damage restoration service can get there to assist you in person. Try to determine if the leak is from a toilet or a sink, you can usually spot a knob located close to the pipes that turns off the water flow.
Turn Off the Electricity
If you notice sparks or smell gas coming from the kitchen, turn off the electricity to the area immediately! At this point, you will want to get to a safe distance outside of your home and contact the fire department. Remain outside until they have had time to inspect the situation and inform you it is clear to enter.
Call the Professionals
If you haven’t yet, it may be time to call in a water damage restoration team. Make sure to choose a company equipped with the proper experience, insurance, and training. It is important these matters should only be handled by the most qualified of individuals.
Waiting on the specialists while your home is in disarray can be frustrating. You may be feeling restless and want to salvage whatever you can from the mess. There are still a few things you can do prior to our arrival to minimize the damages.
Excess Water Removal
Once you have access to the kitchen again, make sure to remove as much excess water as possible. Allowing water to sit can only cause further water damage, so do what you can. Open windows (if no storm present) and set up fans to promote faster drying.
This is the stage to call the pros in for Charlotte water damage cleanup or if you’re in Texas, Dallas water damage restoration.
Kitchen Cabinets
Open all cabinets to allow air to flow through them and hasten the drying process. Attempt to salvage all items kept inside the cabinets by moving them to a dry place. If the contents of your cabinets have been affected by sewage or mold, dispose of the items immediately.
So long as only affected by clear water, and the source has been dealt with and promptly fixed, your cabinets should able to be dried and saved. Real wood cabinets will fare better than those constructed out of cheaper materials.
Sewage and Mold
If you suspect the water damage involves sewage, avoid these areas and wait for the professionals. Attempting to fix things on your own can make things far more dangerous. Sewage, or black water, contains pathogens in the form of bacteria, mold, viruses, or protozoan and should not be handled unless properly trained.
Keep in Mind
DO NOT,
- allow water to sit. Allowing water to settle will only cause more damages;
- put off handling the problems. More problems will only develop compounding the issue;
- cut corners. You have enough issues to deal with as is. Don’t attempt to ignore what could make matters worse by trying to take things on yourself. The need for water damage restoration should be taken seriously and dealt with accordingly.
DO,
- follow the above procedures and take note of all damaged property. Take plenty of pictures to ensure your insurance company covers the water damage;
- Contact the professionals. If you’re in Charlotte, reach out to the team at Mission Restorations to come and provide a thorough restoration of your property. Don’t allow things to spiral out of control, call 704-727-2000 today.
