Minute four
Lift what water ruins. Leave what water has already finished with.
Two rules cover most of it. Anything that absorbs and cannot be replaced goes up first. Anything already soaked stays where it is until it has been photographed, because moving it spreads the water into rooms that were dry.
- 00Documents, photographs, medicationPaper is the one thing a dryer cannot bring back, and it is the first thing people forget.
- 01Electronics off the floorOnto a table, not into the next room. Height is what matters, not distance.
- 02Lift furniture legs onto blocksFoil or timber offcuts under the legs stop a wet carpet staining the wood and stop the wood staining the carpet.
- 03Stop thereDragging a soaked rug through three dry rooms turns one wet room into four.
Goes to an independent contractor. Nothing is booked until you say so. Calls may be recorded.
Why distance is the wrong instinct
The instinct is to get things out of the room. The result is a trail of water across floors that were dry, and a much larger area for a crew to deal with. Vertical beats horizontal: a table, a worktop, the stairs.
Where a whole floor has to be cleared, that is a job for people with sheeting and a route planned, which is one of the things a restoration crew arrives with.
What is not worth rescuing
Soaked upholstered furniture, wet mattresses, carpet underlay and particle-board furniture that has swollen are generally replaced rather than dried, because they cannot be cleaned through and will not return to shape. Photograph them where they lie and leave them.
Where the water was contaminated — a sewer backup or water that crossed the ground outside — that list gets longer and the rule becomes firmer.
The category everyone rescues too late
Paper. Documents, passports, certificates, photograph albums, a child’s drawings. A dehumidifier will not undo what an hour in water does to them, and no part of the insurance process replaces them.
If something is wet and irreplaceable, freezing it buys weeks: a freezer halts the damage and specialist drying can follow later.
Who lifts what
The split between building and belongings runs through this list.
- 01You own and live hereEverything is yours, and both halves go on the same policy under different sections.
Ask them: what are you moving, and what do you want left exactly where it is? - 02You own and let it outThe building is yours; the tenant belongings are not, and your policy does not answer for them.
- 03You rentYour things, your renters policy. Do not lift the landlord flooring or start pulling up carpet.
- 04You are awayWhoever is on site can photograph and lift, but cannot authorise work on the building. Say so before they are asked to sign anything.
Goes to an independent contractor. Nothing is booked until you say so. Calls may be recorded.
Where these figures come from
Published by someone other than us. Each link goes to their own words rather than to our summary of them.