Most New Orleanians now know what to do if their home floods due to bad weather; however, if you have a freak flood it may take you off-guard. This happened to me last week. I got a call to hurry home because there was water everywhere on my NEW WOOD FLOORS AND CARPET. It seems like I had just finished replacing everything after Katrina so I couldn't believe what was happening. Here is a quick checklist to keep in mind in case this ever happens to you.
1. Find the source of the water and shut it off. I had trouble finding the source of my flood. I was lucky to be able to get Michael Gurtler of Gurtler Brothers to go to my house with his infrared camera. He was able to locate the source of the leak and document all wet areas. This report will be a great help to my insurance adjuster and my contractor. This probably isn't necessary to do right away, but it is great to know exactly what damage was done so it can be properly repaired.
2. Call your insurance agent. My agent, Steve Barrios with State Farm, immediately sent Serv Pro over. They were a great help. Most of the water had been sucked up with a wet-vac, so they set to work trying to dry things out. They put fans and dehumidifiers around the house. They also took out the wall-to-wall carpet and picked up the area rugs and took them to be cleaned. They have come back to check to see if the wood floors are dry yet - they are not. (4 days later)
3. Call your contractor. I have a great contractor, Ray Picone with Delta Enterprises. Ray immediately sent over 2 men with a wet-vac. They got the water up so fast. They also pulled off the baseboard and part of the wall behind the toilet where the problem was. They took the toilet out. They were a great help in minimizing the damage and getting things ready to repair.
4. Take plenty of pictures. This will help the adjuster and also help you to itemize things that got wet.
5. Do whatever you can to help minimize damage. This means moving anything you can out of the way of the water. Luckily, my furniture was not damaged. I was able to move my newly upholstered furniture out of the way just in time.
I am now in the planning stages of re-doing what I had just re-done. By taking the steps I took right away, everything is going smoothly. The insurance company has procedures which need to be followed and by getting them involved at the start, we are following their protocol. My contractor also knows just what the insurance company needs. What could have been a nightmare is now just a minor inconvenience.
I hope you don't have to use these tips, but if you do, I hope they help.
Anne
