5 Steps to Take When Your Basement Floods

Basements can flood for so many reasons that it’s hard to keep track. Pipes can break, water heaters can burst, and heavy rains can cause water in your basement. Regardless of why it happened, figuring out what to do when your basement floods can be extremely overwhelming.

Here, we will review the steps you should take to ensure a proper flooded basement cleanup in your home.

5 Things to Do When Your Basement Floods

1 – Be Aware of Safety Hazards

You should never enter a flooded basement without making sure there aren’t any hazards to your safety. Make sure that any electrical or heating components aren’t submerged in water. If they are or you aren’t sure, turn off your power and gas before entering.

2 – Locate the Source of Flooding

Before doing anything else, you should determine the source of your flooding so that you can call the correct companies as needed. If flooding is caused by a leaking pipe – turn off the water. If caused by leaking appliances, disconnect them from power. Lastly, your flooded basement in Morristown is caused by heavy rains, wait until the storm has passed to begin cleaning up.

3 – Clean Up Standing Water

Once flooding is under control, you can start to remove water from the flooded basement. To clean up water, grab any towels, mops, buckets you may have. For larger amounts, you should rent a wet dry vacuum to easily suck up water.

If there are any wet rugs, furniture, or personal items, you should move them to a separate place to dry.

While removing water from your basement, you should open any windows and turn on fans to encourage air circulation, which will help to speed up the flooded basement cleanup process.

4 – Begin the Drying Process

Once there’s no more water in your basement, you should set up fans and dehumidifiers to remove all lingering moisture. Set up fans in the most affected areas with dehumidifiers close by. Both fans and dehumidifiers are needed to help prevent the growth of mold in your basement.

Drying equipment should be left out for a minimum of 3 days to completely dry out a room. Depending on the strength of your fans and dehumidifiers and the extent of flooding, you may have to leave them out for a few days longer.

5 – Clean and Sanitize

Be sure to mop basement floors and wipe down basement walls with a cleaning solution. This step should not be skipped, as it removes any dirt, bacteria, or mold spores caused by flooding.

Causes of Flooded Basements

Frozen or leaking pipes
Water heaters
Appliance leaks
Heavy rains or heavy snowmelt
Sump pump failure
Clogged drainage system

Do You Need A Professional for A Flooded Basement?

There are times where homeowners should have no problem dealing with basement flooding by themselves. But, when flooding becomes too much or too complex for you to handle, you’ll likely need the help of a water damage restoration service in Morristown.

Times where you should always call a flooded basement cleanup company include when:

Water is from a sewage backup.
Water is from a contaminated source such as a nearby overflowing river.
Water has affected finished parts of your basement, such as carpeting or laminate flooring.
You can tell there is moisture in walls or ceilings.
There is visible mold growth.

Who else do you need to call when your basement floods? Depending on the cause of your flooding, you may also need to call the following professionals.

Call a plumber when:

You can’t stop the flooding yourself.
Flooding is due to a plumbing issue, such as frozen pipes or leaking water heaters.
You need them to make repairs before you can start cleaning.

Call an HVAC company when:

You’re dealing with a clogged AC line.
Your furnace is leaking.
Need someone to turn off your gas line.

Call a basement waterproofing company when:

You’ve already cleaned up the water in your basement.
Flooding is due to a groundwater issue that could be prevented by waterproofing.
Your sump pump malfunctioned.
You notice cracks in foundation walls.