If you have been a victim of a flooded basement recently, you can very well understand how scary and frustrating the whole experience can be, especially the cleanup process. Keeping a few basic things in mind while undertaking the tiring experience but necessary procedure for making your flooded basement dry and safe once again can help you a lot.

Cleaning a water-logged basement is no fun indeed. It is a challenging and a time-consuming job, a job which we would prefer to get done by a professional, provided it is not too heavy on our pockets.

While undertaking the process of making your flooded basement livable, you should involve other members of your family to assist you in this job. After all, it is better to work as a team for best results. The most important thing is to assess the damage done to your home and your gadgets. This can get you to save the furniture and other precious things first to the dry side of your basement. You can place things one over the other while protecting them from further damage and breakdown, especially if you have limited dry space available.

Next step towards the assessment of the water damage restoration needs in your flooded basement is to discard and dispose the damaged items to an appropriate place. Such items as stuffed toys, pillows, water-drenched mattresses and magazines/newspapers which have become extensively damaged should be immediately discarded to discourage growth of mold and mildew in your basement. Carpets which have remained under water for more than 48 hours may become damaged beyond restoration and it is therefore advisable to discard them at the earliest time possible. If only a small portion of the carpet is wet or damaged, then you can dry it using a wet-and-dry vacuum or by taking the carpet out under the sun for best cleaning and drying.

Furniture lying in your flooded basement can suffer extensive damage if timely action is not taken to remove it to a safe and dry place at the earliest time. If your sofas or other fabric furniture have remained under water for long duration, it is best to get your furniture professionally cleaned to make it safe and reusable and prevent it from any mold or mildew. However, if you've got home owner's insurance providing flood coverage, then you are lucky enough to get your furniture replaced by insurance without shelling out any bucks.

Always check for important documents, files, and books that might be lying in your flooded basement. If you had cared to place them in waterproof boxes at a safe place, then you can heave a sigh of relief, otherwise you need to retrieve them immediately and make arrangements for document replacement to avoid any uncanny situation in the near future. Don't forget to learn a lesson from this mistake and always keep your documents and valuables to protect their safety.

Next you must proceed towards cleaning the walls, floors and other damaged areas in your flooded basement. A mild bleach solution proves to be a handy trick for getting best results in cleaning your basement and also driving the accumulated bacteria or mold to make your basement free from any health hazards.