Can You Repair Water Damage on Your Own?
As home and business owners would attest, flooding is common in New Orleans. It's easy to see why, too: the city sits below sea level, receives more than 60 inches of rain a year, and maintains high humidity levels throughout the year.
Aside from natural flooding, water damage also occurs in New Orleans due to plumbing leaks, leaky roofs, sump pump failure, and more, all of which should be dealt with immediately to avoid unsafe and unsightly conditions around your property.
Since speed is key in a proper recovery, you may wonder if you could repair your water damage on your own. While this may seem like a good idea on paper, it’s best to leave it up to the team at ServiceMaster Elite Cleaning Services for professional water damage cleanup and repairs in New Orleans.
Dangers of Do-It-Yourself Water Damage Restoration
Attempting to DIY your water damage cleanup and repairs could lead to many different problems, including:
Completing Improper or No Water Mitigation
Water mitigation is often the first step in restoring your home from water damage and helps prevent further damage to your building’s structure and your personal belongings by:
- Identifying the source and category of water damage
- Putting a stop to the flow of water into the building
- Extracting standing water from the damaged areas
When you hire water mitigation professionals, you’re giving yourself the best possible chance to minimize damage to your property. A water mitigation company can handle the job much more quickly than you can, and it has all the right equipment and knowledge to do so.
Overlooking Hidden Water Damage
A few things can happen as soon as water enters your home:
- During a flood, water will spread out in your home, finding its way into the nooks and crannies of your flooring, under your baseboards, up your drywall, and more.
- During a leak, the water will penetrate the surface below it and eventually below that one, leading to numerous areas that need to be restored.
When homeowners try to clean up water damage, they often overlook the areas where moisture is trapped or water damage is hidden behind something. Water damage is often out of sight, so it makes sense why they can remain even after all the standing water appears to be cleaned up.
Hiring a professional crew ensures that all water is properly extracted and dried, even in spots that are hard to reach. This detailed cleanup prevents mildew or mold growth, structural damage, and more repairs later on.
Spreading Damage Unintentionally
Large amounts of water damage must be dried via commercial-grade humidifiers and air movers. Hair dryers and box fans won’t cut it.
If residential drying equipment is used, the drying time will be greatly extended, in all actuality giving the water damage more time to penetrate materials and spread to previously unaffected areas.
Additionally, if something like a ceiling bubble full of water is popped without the proper protection, you could be making the damage even worse. It’s best to limit your risk of spreading damage and seek help from a professional.
Putting Yourself & Your Family at Risk
Water does not play nice with the rest of your home’s systems, particularly your electrical system. The sheer volume of water often seen in New Orleans flooding is enough to reach the electrical system, so it’s best to skip any DIY restoration without consulting a professional first so that it may even be safe to do so.
Additionally, depending on the category of water damage, the water that has entered your property may be contaminated with bacteria that could cause illness in your family if not addressed immediately. Only restoration professionals have the knowledge and tools required to clean, disinfect, and restore the area to new.
What’s The Best Way to Clean up Water Damage?
Professional mitigation, cleaning, and restoration are needed to properly recover your home or business from water damage.
As soon as water damage is spotted around your property or flooding happens, follow these steps to ensure proper cleanup and restoration of your property’s water damage:
- Contact emergency personnel if needed
- Attempt to stop the source of water (shutting off the main water valve, using sandbags, etc.)
- When safe to do so, contact ServiceMaster Elite Cleaning Services to request damage assessment
Once we’ve assessed the damage, we’ll work with you to create a restoration action plan. This will minimize further damage and get things back to normal as soon as possible!
ServiceMaster Elite Cleaning Services is Here for Your New Orleans Water Damage Restoration
With decades of experience in identifying, mitigating, and restoring water damage for homes and businesses of all sizes, it just makes sense to turn to ServiceMaster Elite Cleaning Services for your water damage restoration in New Orleans.
Hiring our team can help you tackle even the largest loss, ensuring you won’t have to handle it alone. Give us a call 24/7, 365 days a year – we’re ready to help at a moment’s notice with trusted processes, clear communication, and over 65+ years of national experience backing our every move.
Need water damage restoration in New Orleans? ServiceMaster Elite Cleaning Services has you covered every step of the way. CLICK TO CALL TODAY!
