5 Tips on How to Recover from Water Damage in Los Angeles
Water damage can strike anywhere. While this problem is very common in areas which are generally humid and prone to storm, there are still many reported cases of water damage on dry places such as Los Angeles.
Water damage to a house can be caused by many factors. Even the most solidly constructed houses can be affected by it. Common causes of water damage are the violent forces of nature such as heavy rains, flood or hurricane. Other unanticipated causes can also arise anytime such as a broken water pipe, faucet left open for several days, leaky roof and many others. In any circumstance, water damage can cause serious damage to properties and even loss of life. This situation must be dealt with immediately and by people who are experts in dealing with the situation.
Regardless of the cause of water damage, right after discovering it, there are basic things you must do as a homeowner.
1. Assess the state of your house.
The first and most important thing to do is to assess whether your house or portions of it are still structurally safe to use or live in. The safety of your family is very important. In extreme circumstances where the entire house is badly damaged, it is safer to just find an alternate shelter.
2. Turn off everything.
If your house is not badly damaged and is still safe to live in, be sure to turn off the power, main water supply line, and natural gas line if any, and wait until a water damage recovery team examines and fixes the problem. Otherwise, don’t turn on anything. This can help prevent further accidents like fire from happening.
3. Protect your assets.
If only a portion of your house is damaged, relocate important belongings in that area to a safer and dry place in your house. If the entire house is damaged, ask a relative or friend to safe-keep your properties for the meantime.
4. Clean the area affected.
After removing your items and properties from the affected areas, your next step will be to clean and wipe out any visible standing water. If the damage is caused by factors other than forces of nature, locate the source of the problem and have it repaired immediately to avoid further damage.
5. Call a reliable water damage recovery team.
Before anything becomes worse, call a water damage recovery team to help you out. Hire someone who specializes in all types of water damage recovery such as flood clean up, pipe leak repairs and mold remediation. When hiring a company to fix your water damage problem, it is best to find a local service provider so they can respond immediately. Rely only on a company that has highly trained workers, best practices, and the latest equipment in solving water damage problems. It is also good to work with a company that will also assist you with any type of water-related claims from your home insurance company. Fidelity General Contractors has all these attributes. It is one of the companies you can rely on when it comes to water damage recovery in Los Angeles.
Recovering from water damage is never easy. But having the right knowledge on how to deal with and hiring the right people to help you out can help you stop and prevent water damage problems from costing you more.
The article about Recover from Water Damage is written by author Ran Ben Refael who contributes articles on Los angeles recover from water damage