What do you do when you get home and find out you have had a water line break and the inside of your house is standing in several inches of water. Your first instinct might be to cry, but what a waste of time that will be! Your mind is probably racing while you look around and see all of your furniture standing in the water and your cat that hates water is perched on the back of the couch to keep dry.



Why are you just standing there, find the water valve that controls flow to the busted line and get it off. It is does not have one, call the emergency number for your water company or if you have a well pump, go shut it off and cut off the electricity while you are at it. These are the first two things that need to be done immediately to stop the water flow and prevent you from getting electrocuted. If it is dark outside, use candles or flashlights for lights temporarily. If you have a portable generator, you could use this to power a couple of lights somewhere safely.

You need to call a water damage team quickly. When you choose the right company, they will get someone to your home usually within an hour or less. Use your cell phone or a computer at a neighboring home to get in touch with someone that services your area. Once you have done this, recruit those neighbors, if they will, to come and help you get ready for the water damage team to arrive.

Your main objective is to get the water out of course, but you also need to take note of valuable things that could be sustaining damage. Instead of trying to move all of your furniture out right this minute, use whatever things you can to put underneath them to raise them above the water level. Once you have done this you can sit as many smaller things as you can on top of the elevated pieces.

By the time you have gone through the bottom floor of your home and achieved getting things off the floor or taken outside, if you have any time left open the doors and start sweeping the water out if possible. If you live in an apartment you might have to make do with towels or blankets to soak up the water and then squeeze them out in the bathtub or a garbage can. This is slow process, but getting the water out fast could prevent more damage.

Once the water damage team arrives, let them take over. You should ask them what you can do you help and follow their directions. If you can not help, stay out of the way and let them do their job. They will have the equipment that will get the job done faster than you ever could.