What is Water Mitigation?

Water damage can sneak up on you and your home without any warning. Dishwashers can randomly start leaking, running right over your hardwood floor. Even stormy weather can spring a leak in your roof, causing damage to your home. So, what is water mitigation? Follow below for tips and information from PCS Carpet Systems.

Water mitigation prevents future damage from affecting your home and belongings. The water mitigation process includes using special equipment and specific techniques to lessen the amount of loss:

Cleaning and disinfecting savable materials.
Extracting water and drying it out of the home with commercial-grade drying equipment.
Removing damaged materials and furniture, even drywall and flooring.
Checking the home’s structural stability
Protecting the home by boarding windows, applying tarps, and taking safety precautions.

Water mitigation services are not to replace or repair damaged property but to ensure that the disaster your home has faced does not lead to further problems. This process may prevent future damage but is often a temporary solution.

Difference Between Water Mitigation and Restoration

Water mitigation services will be performed first, and then restoration as needed. Water mitigation prevents further damage from happening, keeping your belongings and property safe.

Water restoration is a service that is provided to repair the damage that has already been done to your home and property.

Causes of Water Damage in Homes

Most water damage scenarios can be unexpected in the way that it will happen to your home and how much of an impact it can have. Water damage can occur anytime and ruin many different parts of your home.

Natural Disasters
Frozen Pipes
Roof Damage
Dishwasher Blockage
Faulty Toilet Line
Flooded Basement
Broken Water Supply Line and Nozzle
Excessive Debris in Gutter and Downspouts

What is The Cost of Water Mitigation?

HomeAdvisor says, “the average cost to clean up a water-damaged home in 2021 is $1,202 – $5,104. But could exceed $12,000. This price tag can, of course, vary greatly and doesn’t include a complete restoration.

Is the water damage isolated to one room or section of your home? Do walls, floors, or ceilings have to come out to properly dry the damage? Your answers will impact the final price tag.

And little details can make a price difference. For example, laminate flooring costs more to restore than hardwood because it will soak up water, holding moisture in the subflooring and causing rotting. Wet outer walls cost more than inner walls.”

Cost Based on Type of Damage

Category 1: Clean Water (water from the toilet, discharged water from a water supply, and a washing machine.) This is all freshwater, so it’s typically not dangerous.
Category 2: Grey Water (water from the shower, roof leak, dishwasher, or laundry before it reaches the sewage.
Category 3: Blackwater (toilet backup, sewage backup, water flowing from the yard and street, which possesses a higher risk of infection and disease-causing pathogens.

As you can understand now it is more expensive to do water mitigation on water that is dirty due to the high risk that is involved including the saturation of carpets, walls, and personal belongings. And at category three, they can be infected with fecal matter.

How to Reduce/Prevent Water Damage

Not all water damage can be prevented. But you can take steps to prepare for the possibility that you will have a water leak that causes future damage. Some water mitigation tools that you can choose from are listed below:

Industrial dehumidifiers
Sump pump
Sand or water bags
Water meter key

Water Mitigation Process

There are several steps in the way that the water mitigation process works. Below we have listed for you the beginning process of water mitigation being set up. The steps after that will come from a water restoration company.

1| Find the Source

If you have water damage from a flood, that may be more obvious, and you don’t have to go looking. But there are other cases where the leak may be unclear.

If you find the source immediately and it is apparent where the water is coming from, access your shutoff valve inside your home.

For example, you’ll find the shutoff valve of your toilet below the reservoir and your washing machine shutoff valve behind the appliance itself.

If the water source is still unclear, shut off your water at the water meter, which is located near the street, under an iron lid. In the best-case scenario, you’ll want a water meter key to lift up the lid because it is heavy and turn off the water before it enters your house.

You can get a water meter key at your local hardware store or home improvement store. They’re typically around 15 to $20. If you don’t have one or don’t prefer to buy one you can also use a screwdriver to pry off the lid.

Your home may also have a main shutoff valve; if you’re not sure where that is located, then next time you have a plumber at your house, ask them where it is, and they can help you find it.

2| Remove the Water

If you have a sump pump, start pumping the standing water out of your home. If you also happen to have industrial humidifiers on hand, you can also begin to use these.

Remember to never plug in a sump pump or dehumidifier if you cannot plug it in from a dry area. You do not want the risk of being electrocuted or worse.

You can use your dehumidifier and sump pump to start the water removal process before a technician gets there to avoid costly mold situations.

If the water’s not very deep, you don’t have to use a sump pump. In this case, you’ll move on to the next step.

3| Schedule a Water Mitigation Technician

When a water mitigation technician arrives on the scene, they will act fast to dry things out and inspect the extent of the damage. They will inspect how much water has penetrated into the ceiling, floors, walls, etc.

Suppose you were able to use a dehumidifier. In that case, it’s still crucial that you get an assessment done because even though you did your best to dry up the water, what you can’t see behind the walls could still be damaged and cause harm to you and your family. Areas that still hold moisture become a breeding ground for mold and mildew.

Typically, when you have people come out to your home to do a job, you would get an estimate before they get there. Still, with water mitigation, it’s different compared to your typical services.

Unfortunately, no tool or technology can give you an accurate estimate over the phone regarding water damage.

4| Contact Home Insurance

The next thing you want to do is to call your home insurance company. Not everyone has flood or water damage insurance. Still, if you do, they will arrange a place for you to stay and cover the costs while the professionals take care of the water damage.

If you do have water damage or flood damage insurance, your home insurance does want you to take a couple of steps to reduce the amount of damage like:

Putting a tarp over a leaking roof.
Having your home dried out to prevent mold growth.
Shutting off the water from the valve or meter next sign contacting a water mitigation company. as soon as possible to reduce damage.

5| Water Clean-Up Starts

After you’ve done everything you can to reduce damage to your home, contact your insurance company and contact a water mitigation company. The next thing that will happen is the water clean-up process.

Unfortunately, this process calls for a lot of reconstruction, like removing baseboards, flooring, drywall, and even portions of the ceiling if the leak was on a second level.

Time to Clean with Water Mitigation

If your home has experienced water damage, I’m sure you are eager to get your home back to normal and your floors looking better than ever. Now is the time to call PCS Carpet Systems. We provide the following services that will be helpful during a water mitigation process and more:

Commercial carpet care
Wood floor restoration
Upholstery Cleaning
Carpet repair service

Contact us today for more information about our services and when we can get you to schedule after the big clean-up is done.

FREE Estimate