What To Do If You Have a Water Damage

We interrupt our regularly scheduled carpet cleaning tip to bring you this important message...

Broken pipes, leaky appliances and heavy rainstorms can teach an unexpected lesson on the destructive power of water. A little knowledge about what to do, combined with qick action, can help salvage your home and personal items.

In most cases, only a professional can repair water-damaged flooring and furnishings. Do not attempt to treat these items yourself--that may only contribute to the problem and cause further damage. The IICRC recommends the following actions to minimize damage while waiting for help to arrive:

• Foremost stop the water leak and attend to obvious safety hazards, like electrical shock and personal injury from slips and falls.
• Increase airflow with open windows, fans, and heating and air conditioning systems.
• Open doors, drawers, cupboards and closets to maintain optimal air circulation and promote drying.
• Move furnishings out of wet areas or protect furniture legs from absorption and damage with triple-folded aluminuim foil.
• Hang draperies and pin up upholstery skirts.
• Wash wet clothes, sheet and linens immediately and hang to dry.
• Do not store damp items in plastic bags where mold can grow.

Pro Steamer is an IICRC certified firm that will dry both your structure and furnishings to acceptable industry standards. Evaluating all the water damaged materials properly requires specialized tools, common sense, and more experience than evaluation of carpet. Our job is to dry and restore all affected materials. An essential part of the restoration is to monitor and record both humidity and moisture content levels for best results and to avoid secondary damage.