How to Care For Your Items After Flooding

Flooding is a problem that can happen at any time and due to a number of many different reasons. Whatever the reason may be for the flooding, it is a known fact that damage follows behind it. Apart from damage to the structure, you will also experience damage to the items that are within the home that is flooded.

It is devastating enough to find your home inundated with water let alone find the items you hold dear damaged by it. Furniture, appliances, rugs, carpets, and precious mementos can all suffer from damage due to flooding. There is hope however since some of these items can actually still be salvaged and saved from turning into trash.

What to Do With Items After a Flood

When it comes to salvaging the stuff you have after a flood, time is always of the essence. The quicker you work to get items out of the water, the bigger your chances of saving these from becoming trash. Just make sure that you document everything before you try to do any work on your valuables in order to avoid negating your insurance claim. To help you out, here are some tips you can use to save stuff after a flood:

• Furniture – when handling furniture after a flood, if the water hasn’t subsided yet, it is best for you to try to get these out of the water quickly but carefully to prevent further damage. If the water has subsided, open all windows and doors to air everything out. Don’t try to move wood furniture too quickly since these may fall apart if the wood glue has been affected by the flood. Slowly and carefully is the way to go with wood furniture.
• Documents –important documents should always be in plastic containers or bags that are waterproof to avoid the need to salvage these when flooding happens. If you were unable to secure your important documents in such containers, the first thing you need to do is to separate each page carefully from its folders and the other papers these are with. Air-dry these and remove any paper clips and staples which can rust onto them.
• Clothing and drapery – anything made out of cloth or covered in fabric should be aired to dry. You can also use fans to air dry these faster. Clothing and drapes should be hung outside to dry before you consider having these washed or cleaned. Upholstered furniture should also be dried out before any repair work can be done to it.

Contact a Professional Like Chenal Restoration for Help

While you can do what you can to try and salvage your stuff after a flood, the event itself can leave you totally overwhelmed and confused as to what needs to be done. The best recourse you have in Little Rock, Hot Springs, Conway & Benton, AR is to get in touch with Chenal Restoration. Aside from helping you restore your home after flooding, we can also help you with other restoration services.

We can help with content restoration, carpet water damage, and other repairs you might need to have after a flood happens. We can even assist you with the insurance claims process. To get our help, contact us at 866-971-5098 today to schedule your free assessment and estimate.