Your Valuables and Water Damage Restoration

25Dec08

You and your family have planned that vacation for months on end. Every detail, from hotel bookings and flight reservations, to luggage types and matching wardrobe, were planned meticulously to make this vacation the best you have ever had. Everything happened according to plan and your family’s having the time of their lives.

During all this, something was nagging you from the back of your head, and you cannot figure out what. Turning on the TV back at the hotel room, you soon found out that there was a storm in your city. Dismissing this herald and confident about the integrity of your home, you soon joined your family back and finish your vacation.

All festivities from your just concluded vacation turned to shock as you opened the door to your house and find it ravaged by flood. Almost all items were drenched in floodwater and you can do nothing but call the water damage restoration company.

While waiting for the professionals to arrive, you can do the following things and try to perform the preliminary steps in water damage restoration. Doing so could help you salvage most of your valuables and minimize your losses.

Before starting any damage restoration activity, ensure that electricity has been cut off from the house. Shut down all circuit breakers and pull out electrical appliances from their sockets. Remove as much of these appliances away from the area and perform damage restoration offline.

The next items to salvage would be all your valuable documents, like certificates, licenses, titles, and other important documentations. If these were affected by the flood, they can still be recovered through proper damage restoration techniques for documents.

Wooden furniture specially antiques and handcrafted items should be removed and transferred to a safer and drier place. Water damage restoration can still be performed for these valuable. Do not dry them out under the sun, as this would only lead to more damage. Dry them out using air blowers or fans.

Valuable prints and drawings on frames can be restored. Separate the items from their frames and dry them out using absorbent cloth or paper. Paintings can also be recovered through damage restoration. Most paintings can be separated from their frames, which you can do to dry them out separately. Some paintings though, include the frame as part of the artwork and should be dried as one entity. Use absorbent materials initially to remove the excess water, and then dry them out by air blowers.

Ceramics and jars are more resistant to water damage. However, they still need to be cleaned to remove any residue of floodwater and prevent bacteria from proliferating and cause health risks to your home. Dry them out by air blowers.

Water damage restoration can also be performed on expensive leather or furniture with leather upholstery. Clean the surface but make sure not to use solvent-based cleaners as this could ruin the leather. Use chlorine-based or water-based cleaners and detergents. After cleaning the surface from dirt and grime, it can be dried by wiping off excess water with absorbent sponges or cloth. Do not exposed these items under the sun or use heated air blowers to dry them off. These may cause wrinkles, which could totally damage the leather.

Other items may need professional help from restoration companies. Consult these experts about what to do with your other valuables. The key here is to act immediately and perform damage restoration as quickly as possible. Doing so might minimize your losses, and help you save considerable resources for that next vacation.

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Tags: water, water damage, water damage restoration