Tips & Hints
Things you could do before our emergency teams arrive

1. Try to find and stop the water intrusion source.
2. Try to identify the extent of the water damaged area. You can do this by tracing the pathways of the water to find where the damage has spread.
3. Plan and start the clean up by collecting items from the floor. Find a spare room where some of the household/office items may need to be stored temporarily while the restoration is in progress. The basic idea here is to move and protect your personal belongings/documents from water damage.

Don't

• Use your household vacuum to remove water (electrical shock may occur).
• Leave books, magazines or other coloured items on wet carpets or floors as they may stain the carpet.
• Use TVs or other household appliances while standing on wet carpets or floors, especially not on wet concrete floors
• Leave wet fabrics in place; dry as soon as possible
• Turn on ceiling fixtures if ceiling is wet, and keep out of rooms where ceilings are sagging from retained water

Do

• Make sure an appropriate, licensed service company has been called to eliminate the water source or make necessary repairs as required.
• Turn off circuit breakers supplying electricity to wet areas; unplug and remove any small electrical devices on the wet carpet.
• Remove Oriental rugs or other coloured rugs from wet wall-to-wall carpeting
• Remove valuable paintings and art objects to a safe, dry place.
• Place aluminium foil or wood blocks between furniture legs and wet carpeting
• Hang draperies and pin up furniture skirts to prevent watermarks, dye marks.
• Make plans for restoration crew to move large furniture to specified dry areas, if necessary.
• Gather loose items, toys, etc. from floors