You wake up in the middle of the night and think you hear water running; you listen for a second and hear nothing, so you roll over and go back to sleep. You hear it even louder, jump up, and find that your bathroom, hall, and part of the downstairs is flooded from a broken pipeline somewhere. The first thing you need to do is turn off the water to the house, before any more damage is done, the second thing you need to do is call the plumbing professionals to trace the broken pipe and fix it for you. Until they get there however, there are some things you can do to minimize the damage to your home.
The first thing you need to do is open windows, doors, and turn on any fans that you have in the house to start drying out your carpeting and floors. If you have a dehumidifier you may want to turn it on as well; carpeting mildews quickly, and that is a smell you can never really get rid of.
After you get these two things done, sweep and mop up any water that you can while you are waiting for the professional plumbers. Pick up any items that may have been damaged by the water from the busted pipe, and lay them out to dry. If possible, make copies of important documents, and always make sure to put up any items of value to be inspected by a water restoration specialist as soon as possible.
Cleaning up after a busted pipe, or leak, or even an overflowing toilet can be aggravating and you can end up with a big mess if you aren’t careful. Calling in a water restoration professional is an option, along with a plumbing professional, but it is sometimes easier to clean it up yourself. The plumbing professionals can usually give you some tips on the best way to clean up after a plumbing disaster of this magnitude and you should be good to go in no time at all, once your plumbing is fixed that is.
