There’s not much worse than finding a leak in your home and dealing with it and the damage it’s caused. But the fact is that it can happen to anyone at any time – even with measures in place to avoid it as much as possible – so knowing what to do if and when it does is crucial and really could make all the difference. With that in mind, here are some things you should do after a leak in your home to minimize the fallout.
Assess The Damage
The first thing to do after you’ve found a leak in your home, whether it’s coming from pipework, an appliance, the roof, or anywhere else, is to assess the extent of the damage – what’s been affected by the leak? What needs to be fixed?
You’ll need to check the floors, walls, ceilings, furniture, and any belongings that might have gotten wet. Some of the things can be fixed and others might have to be thrown out, and although it’s hard, taking a look will help you work out what to do next.
Stop The Leak
Of course, you’ll also need to stop the leak as soon as you can – if you can. If you can stop the leak it’s going to mean less damage is done, which is always something to try as that means less money to be spent on cleaning up, as well as the time it can take and the personal toll if precious items are ruined.
Even if you can only temporarily stop the water from getting worse, that’s something you’ll need to do and then call in experts to take it from there – if you just let things keep getting wetter and wetter it’s only going to be harder to deal with.
Dry Things Out
When the water has been stopped, you’ll need to try to dry out the area as much as you can as quickly as you can – again, the sooner you can do it, the less of a problem it will be – mold and mildew can easily grow if things stay damp for longer than they should, and that’s going to affect your air quality.
Invest in some dehumidifiers to remove as much moisture as possible and open doors and windows to get the air circulation, as that will also help. Don’t forget the water might have gotten into hard to reach cavities and under flooring, so you’ll need to check there and dry that out too.
Repair The Damage
Finally, when everything is dry and the leak is fixed, you’ll need to get the damage repaired, and you can take a look at some useful restoration articles to help you understand what might need to be done.
There could be all kinds of issues in your home now, depending on how long the water was leaking, how much of it leaked, and where it went. It might be that you can do the work yourself, but in most cases, it’s best to get an expert to help you, as the result will be quicker and you’ll be less disrupted.
