Tips Guides

Water damage restoration for flooded basements is a common occurrence in the United States, especially in areas labeled as a Special Flood Hazard Area. Dealing with a flooded basement is stressful but facing the onerous task of its clean-up and recovery is the quickest way to getting life back to normal.

Be safe! - Do not step into a flooded basement. Play it safe and turn off the power source that feeds electricity to the basement. If necessary, just turn off the main electricity bus of your home. No amount of insurance can cover the bodily harm caused by electrocution.

Inform your insurance company - You don’t want to empty your pockets cleaning-up the flood when you have insurance. Take pictures or a video as proof that water damage has occurred and inform the insurance company of so they can start processing your water damage insurance claim immediately. It is either covered by your homeowner’s policy with an amendment called a “rider” or a special flood insurance policy. It depends on the source of flood.

Flood damage and the resulting water damage restoration are generally not covered by a homeowner’s insurance due to the existence of flood insurance. If you have a flooded basement because of an accidental broken pipe or defective your washing machine’s hose, you can make a water damage claim covered under your homeowner’s insurance policy. Word your claim carefully though, and do not use the term ‘flood’. Instead, use the term ‘accidental water damage’ or your claim may be denied.

Any water accident that happens in your home is covered by your homeowner’s insurance policy. Water seepage and water damage caused by sump pump failure is not considered accidental but the consequence of poor water damage restoration maintenance.

There are two types of flood insurance offered: 1) Personal property and 2) Building Property coverage. If you live in a designated flood hazard area, your mortgage company usually requires you to purchase any of these or both. Flood is usually defined as, “…partial or complete inundation of two properties or more or two acres or more of normally dry land. The flood is caused either by overflow of tidal or inland water, mudflow, unusual run-off of surface water from any source, or the uncommon erosion of shoreline along a large body of water caused by waves or currents.” If your flooded basement resulted from any of these, then you can make a flood insurance claim.

Clean-up the basement - Once your basement is safe, and you’ve called your insurance company, you will want to clean-up the flooded basement. If the flood is minor, then you can clean up the basement yourself. If it is major, then you will need professional help to do the job for you.

If you decided to do the job yourself, make sure you don’t compromise your safety, as the flood water can be extremely unsanitary. Wear the proper attire and gather the gear you will need to clean the basement up such as rubber boots, rubber gloves, mops, clean absorbent rags, antiseptic, soap, perhaps a waterproof sealant, pails, and water containers, and a functioning sump pump.

If you go with a profession be sure they have the proper certifications and credentials.

Tips and Guides: Chris Blastoyout distributes information on water issues for Larchmont, NY Water Damage Restoration and Eastchester, NY water damage restoration

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