Fixing Water Damage Yourself: What Could Go Wrong?

2/1/2022 (Permalink)

Imagine the following scenario: You come home from work, and go down to your finished basement.  You turn on the light and see 3 inches of water that covers the entire floor.  You are shocked.  All you want is for the water to be gone, and fast.  You also think about how much this is going to cost.  At this point, you have two options.

Option 1: Try to clean the water yourself

You can try to extract the water with a Shop-Vac.  Then you can set up any fans and consumer-grade dehumidifiers that you have on hand.  After a few days, it seems dry, so you unplug the fans and dehumidifiers and go about your life.  A couple weeks down the road, you notice a musty odor.  You pull up the carpet to find that there is visible mold from residual moisture.  Now that has to be dealt with.  A few more weeks down the road, and you see that the sheetrock is discolored so you cut that away to find mold behind the wall as well, which also needs to be addressed.

Option 2: Call a professional

You immediately call a damage restoration professional who responds quickly.  They extract the water, dry under the carpet, and dry any belongings that can be salvaged.  They also take all necessary precautions so that mold does not grow as a result of this water damage. They use a professional moisture meter to ensure this.

As you have learned, it is important to contact a water damage restoration professional as soon as you notice any water damage. SERVPRO of Stamford has over 30 years of experience working with people who have had water damage to their property.  If you have any type of water damage, call us immediately at 203.324.1642.