Restoration Homes (855) 321-3157

United States

Water damage and mold: what to do first

Water is running. Do these four things.

  1. 00Shut the water offThe main valve where the supply enters the house, or the tap behind whatever failed.
  2. 01Kill power to the wet roomsAt the breaker panel, reached dry. Not by pulling a plug out of water.
  3. 02Photograph before you move anythingWide shots first, then close, then the part that failed. That last one decides the claim.
  4. 03Start the drying clockEPA puts mould growth at 24 to 48 hours after materials get wet, counted from when they got wet.
(855) 321-3157 Talk to a contractor

Goes to an independent contractor. Nothing is booked until you say so. Calls may be recorded.

The thing nobody tells you first

A burst supply line is two jobs, not one. A plumber replaces the pipe. A restoration crew dries the wall and whatever is behind it. Standard homeowners wording pays for the damage the water did and usually not for the part that failed, which is why the invoices arrive separately and are answered differently.

People who call only a plumber find this out about six weeks later, when there is a smell in the hallway and a stain that was not there before. Who to call, in what order →

A domestic water heater in a utility cupboard with a rust trail down the tank and a wet ring on the floor around its drip pan
The tank is one trade. The floor it stood on, and the wall behind it, are the other one.

Read before you sign, not after

Two documents get signed on wet kitchen tables and both are optional. A contract signed at your home carries three business days to cancel, and waiving that requires your own handwriting describing your own emergency. Assigning your insurance benefits to a contractor moves your claim to them and is never required. What to read first →

(855) 321-3157 Talk to a contractor

Goes to an independent contractor. Nothing is booked until you say so. Calls may be recorded.

Found mould, with nothing running?

Different problem, different pace. Two questions settle whether you need anyone at all: how large it is, and whether you own the building. EPA puts the do-it-yourself line at about 10 sq ft, and in New York, Florida and Texas the company that tests may not be the company that removes. How big is too big →

Your state

Flood zone, how many neighbours actually hold flood cover, humidity, frost, and who may lawfully do mould work — county by county.

(855) 321-3157 Talk to a contractor