What to do after appliance water failure

5/12/2023 (Permalink)

What would you do if you come home to a flooded house because of an appliance failure.  These failures can come from leaky dishwashers, burst ice maker lines, ruptured washing machine hoses, and failure in toilet supply lines.  Most water damages in the homes are the result of a failed appliance or broken pipe, rather than water from a rising creek or rain event. 

Appliance water damage sounds simple, but the truth is very different. A failure from an appliance can drop several gallons of water on the floor every hour. SERVPRO of Forest and Magee knows that if this happens  when a homeowner leaves for the day, by the time you return an entire structure could be affected.

 An advantage to dealing with flooding from such a source is that the water is usually clean, unless it has been there for an extended time or traveled through a contaminated source.  This usually allows for a faster restoration time because it is less invasive than having to remove affected building materials due to contaminated water.  

The first step we take is to stop the flow of water. If the property owner has not stopped the flow of water,  we do it immediately upon arriving on the property.

Next, we get to work by extracting the standing water. We use both truck mounted and portable units to accomplish this task.  By removing as much water as possible through extraction, it allows our drying equipment to be most effective.

With the standing water removed, we now lower the moisture levels in the surrounding air and building materials.  To do so, we use dehumidifiers and air movers to create a balanced drying system.  The equipment is placed based on calculations from SERVPROS drying software.  This determines the number of air movers and dehumidifiers required to efficiently dry the structure.  During the process the drying data is tracked to ensure a properly dried structure.

Drying out your home is no easy process, but the right restoration company can do it quickly and safely. SERVPRO of Forest and Magee has years of experience helping our neighbors put their homes back together after a flood. If you need our help, call today at 662-779-1070