Repair for Flooded water
by
VJ
+6
Recently there was a leak at my place which is a townhouse/ .the leak from upstairs bathroom caused havoc in my home when Recently there was a leak at my place which is a townhouse/ .the leak from upstairs bathroom caused havoc in my home when i came around 3-4 hours after the leak. the entire house was filled with water and there was around 1cms of water on the floors. I wiped out all the water, however, during the incident water was coming from all the holes in the ceiling and concealed lightings cases. Fortunately, there was no electric damage.
4 weeks from then, I have been putting my house for 70-75 temperature almost every day for a couple of hours. most of the ceiling which was damp has started becoming stiff.
Still, the ceiling has visible marks from the day, including patches of brown color. I plan to get the ceiling done in summer.
Apart from it, what should be my next steps and things I should take care of now so as I have minimal damage residue. Attaching a few pics from the incident.
Contact your home insurance. This should be covered and get a professional in to remove all wallboard and repair it correctly. You have a good chance of mold growing.
most defiantly get you insurance notified.
I agree w/ above...contact your insurance company immediately. You should be covered. Most likely you have mold. Ceiling should be removed and replaced and probably portions of walls. Looks like you have bamboo on the floors and insurance should cover that as well. Bamboo is very hard to refinish and poly doesn't adhere well (so it might only look good for a year or two), so replacing it is better...and insurance should pay for entire floor, not just the portions damaged...it will never match.
I put this article together a few years ago and can help you as you speak to insurance company so that you make sure you're fully reimbursed.
http://theflooringgirl.com/blog/flooded-floors-many-dont-realize-what-insurance-will-cover/
If this is some sort of mechanical leak, your insurance should cover. If it's from the roof, your condo's insurance should cover.
I third the motion. However, you didn't mention if you owned or rented so if you rent, you landlord should have addressed this issue long before now. Also, if the resident above has not offered to make good, then someone dropped the ball somewhere.
Dehumidifiers! And lots of them. Get as many as you can and position them around your house. Borrow from your friends and family and run them as much as you can.
You want to get all of the moisture out as soon as possible.
Once everything is good and dry you can properly assess the damage. Likely you'll have to scrape, plaster and repaint parts of your ceiling, but if I were you I'd be much more worried about your floors.
Don't worry too much about mold, its certainly a possibility, but if you can get things dry enough the mold wont continue to grow and will eventually die. Mold needs sustained moisture to keep growing.
No necessarily re-flooring, but wood will tend to cup and warp if it gets wet. If you got the water and moisture out of it quick enough, it may not be an issue, but that's definitely the thing I'd be the most worried about.
The heater will help, but if you have access to a dehumidified it will really speed up the process, and trust me you want to get things dry as fast as possible.
Best of luck!