A house damaged by flood is never a heart warming sight for anyone. It brings a lot of headaches, worries and stress. This is usually the case of basements, the most ignored part of one’s house.
Structural damage as well as health and safety problems are one of the results of a flooded basement. Pooled water provides the best environment for mosquitoes to bred in while mold can thrive in damp walls. These molds can produce spores that might be harmful to your health.
Water pressure can also damage your foundation and provide openings for small insects to enter your flooded basement. Insects such as ants and termites are drawn to wet environments. They can be quite destructive moving from your flooded basement to wall spaces as well as electrical conduits. These are some of the reasons why a flood damage cleanup should be done as soon as it is safe to do so.
Make sure that your home is already safe to enter. Remember to wear rubber gloves, masks and water-proof gloves before starting any flood damage cleanup effort.
The first step in flood damage cleanup is to have a water damage professional conduct an inspection of the interior and exterior of your house to check which areas need to be attended to first.
Check if, aside from the flood in your basement, you also have busted pipes that can wreck your flood damage cleanup efforts. Keep in mind that, even small water puddles can lead to flood is left unchecked.
Use a sump pump to drain water from your basement. Check your drains and gutters and make sure that water flows away from your home. Any flood damage cleanup effort would be futile if drains and gutters are not checked properly making water flow back into your basement.
Pools of standing water outside your home can serve as a breeding ground for mosquitoes. This insect is known for carrying diseases such as Malaria, Encephalitis and West Nile Virus. To avoid this, flatten areas where water accumulates, concentrating first on portions nearest to your home. Damp and heavy soil can damage your foundation causing cracks that can lead to another round of flooded basement as well as create entry points for insects and small animals. Trim back any branches that touch your roof. Remove any dead or rotting trees and stumps.
Flood water in your basement can seep into your walls causing wood to rot. This would become a food and shelter source for ants and termites. This makes flood damage cleanup in basements a must. Basements should likewise be sealed off so that it doesn’t flood again. If the cracks in your basement are not sealed properly, you can end up with a whole colony of unwanted roommates that are really tough to evict. Contact flood damage clean up specialists or a pest control professional if you need help in the cleaning or exterminating process.
Once you have removed any standing water from your house, you can start washing and scrubbing your walls. Do not forget to sanitize these parts also to ensure that molds and other bacteria or fungi have been removed.
Put epoxy on all cracks in your house. Epoxy can stretch from the inner to the outer wall as well as expand and contract with every temperature change.
Although the whole flood damage cleanup process can take a while, it still is worth it. Any delay in starting it could mean a minute less for you or your family member’s life.
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