You’ve had a water damage emergency. You have water in your basement, or it is coming into another area of your home. You have already called the restoration company and they are on the way. But what do you do until they can reach you?

Here we will provide you with some advice about what you can do while you wait to help reduce the impact on water damage in your home. Follow these tips:

• Safety first: Safety should always be your first consideration before you do anything. Survey the situation at a safe distance. If you don’t feel safe, exit your home, and wait for a restoration professional to arrive. Check for potential electrical issues, slipping hazards, and other issues. 
• Shut off the water: Shut of the water to the affected areas of your home. This will ensure no additional water will make it way into your home. This is particularly important if you have a burst pipe or leak. 
• Turn off the electricity to the affect areas: If it is safe, shut off the power to the affect areas of your home. Do not walk-through water to shut off your breaker, especially if it is higher than your wall outlets. 
• Follow the directions provided by the restoration company: When you make the call to a restoration company, its important to follow all the directions they provide you over the phone. Use the call to describe our situation and get their professional advice. 
• Check your sump pump: Sump pumps are a common source of water issues, especially basement floods. A malfunction could the source of your issues. Check to make sure it is working properly. It can be a great assistance in helping to get rid of the excessive water in your basement. 
• Remove excess water: Start the process of removing excessive water from the affected areas. You can use towels and blankets to soak up the water, use a mop and bucket, or even use a shop vac to suck up some of the water (if safe to do so). 
• Prevent further water damage from happening: As part of your process to remove excess water, its also important to take steps from additional damage from happening. Try to contain the water to a certain area. Create a barrier between the wet and dry areas using towels and blankets and other materials. The more you can do to prevent additional damage the better.
• Remove items to prevent damage: Start to remove any furniture or personal items that could be damaged by the water. Remove items from the room if possible. If you cannot, at least get things up and off the floor. You can stack things on tables and other furniture.

Taking the above steps while you wait for your restoration company to arrive can greatly help you minimize the damage caused by water. The sooner you act, the better you will be able to minimize the damage.