You’ve always wanted a swimming pool; it’s HOT in Central Florida. Too bad that broken pipe under your kitchen sink, or that disgruntled supply valve on your toilet that flooded your house doesn’t count! So now you’re at that point, “My Kitchen or Bathroom Flooded, What Do I Do?!” Here’s some quick advice.

Immediately:

  • When your kitchen or bathroom is flooded, it’s important to shut off the water as soon as possible! If you don’t know how, call us, or call your plumber and we will do our best to help you figure out how to shut it off until we can get there to help you in person. If the leak is from a toilet or a sink, you can usually find a knob near the pipes that you can turn off by turning to the right. Remember, “Righty tighty, lefty loosey!”
  • Move your furniture in a dry area, pin up the skirts, and protect the legs of furnishings that must remain on the wet floor with a few layers of aluminum foil. Prop up wet cushions so they can dry, and turn them as necessary to make sure they don’t bleed.
  • Turn off the electricity in the flooded rooms if you see sparks or smell gas. You can do this on your main breaker. If you see these things, you should high tail it out of there and call the fire department. Don’t go back into the house until they tell you it is safe.

Next:

Now that you’ve got a couple of quick things handled from your kitchen or bathroom flooding, call us. We will be on our way and over to your house within the hour. You have a few more things you can work on until we get there.

  • Remove as much excess water from your flooring as possible. Mop, blot, use a wet/dry shop vac. DO NOT USE YOUR NORMAL VACUUM ! Do I really need to mention that? Yes. I do.
  • Open all cabinet doors and drawers to allow for more air movement and quicker drying.
  • Wipe down your wood furniture and relocate paintings and pictures to a dry place to prevent further damage.
  • Turn on air conditioning, open windows (if it’s cool outside), and turn on fans to promote faster drying. If your flooding is from sewage and the flood level was high enough to seep into you’re a/c or heating unit, DO NOT turn on the a/c or heating in those cases.
  • Don’t leave magazines, books, and other items on wet carpet floors because they could bleed and stain your floor.
  • Do not use televisions or other electrical appliances while standing on wet floor.
  • IF A CEILING IS SAGGING AS A RESULT OF RETAINED WATER, DO NOT GO IN THAT ROOM AND DO NOT TURN ON THE CEILING FAN IN THAT ROOM.

 Things to Keep in Mind:

When your kitchen, bathroom or any part of your house is flooded, it’s important to take notes and lots of pictures in regards to the damage. Don’t let the water sit, make sure you soak it up and promote drying as soon as possible. It only takes mold 24-48 hours to grow. You have enough problems to deal with, don’t let “cutting corners” lead to more. Make sure you call certified and licensed professionals like us to come and provide thorough restoration of your property. You will need that help eventually!

Don’t put off handling your house flooding until more problems have developed. Hit it head on and you will save yourself time, money, phone calls, headaches, and divorce! Ok. Maybe not divorce, but ladies, be careful of the things you flush down the toilet! And men, fix that leak when the wife brings it up the FIRST time! (Not to be sexist, I suppose it could go both ways.)

For more information on cost and insurance, consult our articles “Homeowners Insurance and Water Damage” and “How Much Does Water Damage Cost In Florida”.