The Water Mitigation Process (Step by Step)

When water damage strikes, it can wreak havoc on your home and belongings. That’s where our dedicated team at Lanier Home Restoration steps in to guide you through the comprehensive water mitigation process, helping you restore your property and regain a sense of normalcy. Let’s take a closer look at each step:

1. Find the Water Source

If the cause of water damage was a flood, then the source may be more obvious. But oftentimes it is unclear where this water is coming from.

If you can determine the source of the leak, you should shut off the corresponding valve inside your home immediately. 

When the source is unclear, you should use the main shut-off in your home to be safe. If you don’t know where this is, be sure to ask a plumber next time they’re in your home.  

2. Call a Water Mitigation Technician

Lanier Home Restoration acts fast, arriving at the scene of water damage to dry things out and assess the extent of the water’s penetration into walls, ceiling, flooring, etc.

Undried areas can become breeding grounds for black mold and mildew, further increasing water damage cleanup costs.

Unlike most services, job estimates cannot be provided until after water cleanup. This is because there is currently no technology or tool that can accurately estimate how long it will take a large-scale water disaster to dry out or how much of your interior may need to be stripped out to dry it out.

For this reason, you’ll receive the bill after cleanup, based on the time and resources actually needed to clear the water out.

3. Contact Your Insurance Company About Water Damage Mitigation

Your next call will be to your insurance company. If you have flood or water damage insurance, they may arrange a place for you to stay while the water cleanup process takes place.

If covered, the insurance company does expect you to take reasonable steps to reduce the amount of damage, such as:

• Shutting the water valve or meter off
• Drying the place out to prevent mold growth
• Putting a tarp over a roof leak
• Contacting a water mitigation company immediately to reduce damage caused by water. See step 2.

They may dispute the cost of water repair if you did not take simple steps like these.

While every policy is different, insurance companies will generally only cover water damage in the following instances:

• Sudden discharge of water, such as a burst pipe as opposed to a slow leak which they would expect you to catch and fix before it causes much damage through basic home maintenance.
• Storm-related water damage, excluding flood damage. Ex: a tree falls on your house and destroys your roof during a storm.
• Accidental sewer backup or overflow, which may also require a rider on your policy
• Flood damage, but only if you have a flood damage rider, which costs extra and may not be available in areas where flooding is common.

Even if you think insurance doesn’t cover it, it’s a good idea to contact them to be sure. You’re paying for coverage and don’t want to leave money sitting on the table.

Your agent can help you understand what your policy covers, so you’ll know if it’s worth your while to file and claim and get an insurance adjuster out there.

On most homes, outer walls contain insulation that will suck up and retain liquid, so outer drywall will almost always need to be removed. Then, our technicians can pull out the wet insulation and dry the space out. Some floorboards may have to come out to maximize airflow on both sides of the walls.

These seemingly drastic actions must take place to speed up the drying process. A slow dry is a recipe for mold, mildew, and a much more costly problem.

• Industrial Dehumidifiers – Unlike home dehumidifiers, these are designed to eliminate significant water in a shorter period of time. Dehumidifiers vary in size and how quickly they can eliminate moisture based on room size and how wet things are. Proper Dehumidifier size is critical to the water cleanup because if a dehumidifier is too big, it can unintentionally suck moisture out of solid surfaces like the ceiling or wood floor. This would make them crumble. Then, of course, if it’s too small, it takes too long to do the job, allowing opportunistic mold to take hold.
• Desiccant Dehumidifier – An industrial dehumidifier that works in extra wet places like a flooded basement
• Air scrubbers – A filtering device that attaches to your air conditioner’s ductwork. It removes moisture while filtering out contaminants like mold spores, mildew as well as years of unrelated buildup like pet dander, dust, allergens, pollen, etc. A water mitigation company also uses these devices to remove debris from the air created during drywall demolition, which may include asbestos.
• High-velocity air dryers and air movers – These dryers remove moisture from places they might try to hide like under your kitchen cabinets. Once that moisture is out of these tight spaces, the industrial humidifiers can get rid of it.
• Thermal imaging camera – Lets a tech see if something is wet or dry based on how it holds or releases heat. Techs aim the device at surfaces around the home to assess if the water dry out is working and how it’s progressing.
• Non-invasive moisture meter – As mentioned above, every solid material naturally has moisture in it, and you don’t want to overdry it. This device assesses the precise moisture level in various surfaces, so your granite countertops get to the right moisture level, and so does your drywall.
• Invasive meter – This meter checks the core moisture of materials that you can penetrate like wood beams.
• Atmospheric readers – This device checks temperature and relative humidity in different areas to assess parts of a home that need more attention.

6. The Dry Out

With all of the above equipment strategically placed, it’s time for the dry-out to begin. Once dry-out begins, our technicians use meters / readers to determine if more surfaces need to come out to complete the drying.

Areas that need extra dry out get marked for additional attention.

For larger jobs, our techs will leave their equipment in your home during the dry-out and check back at least daily to assess progress. On average, it takes a home about four days to dry out using these methods.

7. Antimicrobial Spray

This is an optional service you may want to consider. Despite how quickly you dry out a home, mold can take hold in the last bastions of wetness, and you won’t be able to see it until it’s well-established.

Standing water may have come in contact with black water (sewage), cat litter, the toilet, or even shoe residue, where the water picked up bacteria that can then settle on the floor in other rooms.

For these reasons, our technicians will spray antimicrobials in your home to kill any organisms that hold potential for causing illness.

8. Before and After Comparisons

Generally, around day three, our technician will compare the atmospheric before-and-afters. The difference between the two should be significant at this point, and the technician can assess how much longer machines need to run in order to thoroughly dry out the space.

If on day three, certain materials continue to hold onto moisture, the technician will remove them so that the process can continue.

You’re sacrificing pieces of your home to, in turn, salvage as much of your home as possible. While this can be upsetting to watch, it’s all part of the process. LHR is here to provide you the support and services you need throughout the process of regaining your home after tragedy.

9. Water Mitigation Completion

The role of the water mitigation company is now complete. If you have coverage, they will submit it directly to your insurance company, and you may owe a deductible, which you pay directly to Lanier Home Restoration. 

Rest assured that our team is committed to providing efficient and effective water mitigation services, ensuring the restoration of your home and your peace of mind. Contact us today for professional assistance in handling water damage emergencies.