Guru Restoration

A flooded apartment is always an unexpected and unpleasant emergency, from which no one is immune. What is the first thing to do if your apartment is flooded? Sources of flooding can be a burst pipe, heating circuit or faulty fittings (taps and faucets) in the bathroom or kitchen.

We advise you to take the following steps first:

– De-energize the apartment (or even the entryway), thereby protecting everyone in the apartment from electric shock or a short circuit of the wiring;
– Contact your neighbors immediately to eliminate the source of the water if there is a leak from above;
– If the water broke through your apartment, call an emergency crew, or if you know how, turn off the water in the apartment or riser yourself;
– After that, if the leak is the fault of the neighbors or the housing cooperative, spend a few minutes and fix on video or photo evidence of the damage caused by flooding;
– In any case, quickly collect water improvised means, try to remove furniture or carpeting to minimize water damage and wetting of objects and furniture.

Through negotiations with the neighbors, solve the issues of compensation for damage or call representatives of the housing and utilities department, draw up a Statement and file a claim for compensation for the damage caused.

After collecting water on accessible surfaces, proceed to the main drying of the moisture penetrated in the ceiling, ceilings, walls, floor coverings, carpets and furniture. How to dry an apartment after a flood? Let’s focus on the specific stages of dealing with moisture that has penetrated into the ceiling coverings, floor coverings between floors, as well as walls and floor coverings.

HOW TO DRY THE CEILING AFTER A FLOOD

If water has seeped in from the upstairs neighbors, it means the water has gone through all the layers of the floor covering, the finishing layer of plaster and paint on the ceiling. To dry the ceiling, you used to ventilate the room for a long time or heated it with electric heaters, so the evaporation of water from the layers of the ceiling passed quickly.

Nowadays, dehumidifiers are more economical and effective for these purposes. They dry the air in the room faster and more evenly, and gradually, without destroying or cracking the coatings, they extract moisture from all layers of building structures throughout the room. No need to open windows or pay big electric bills.

How long or how long does the ceiling dry after flooding? Depending on the extent of the flooding, it can take up to a few weeks to dry with natural fresh air drying. If a dehumidifier is used, up to several days, with a gradual decrease in the required humidity level in the enclosed dehumidified room. A dehumidifier efficiently lowers humidity levels and prevents mold and mildew from developing, which is most important for the health of the inhabitants.

HOW TO DRY WALLS QUICKLY

A flood in an apartment often causes damage to the wall coverings and finishes of the rooms. How to deal with the consequences?

Water flowing over the walls leaves dirty wet streaks and stains, peeling wallpaper and destroying plaster. Painted walls become stained and peeling. Restoration of walls begins with drying and removing moisture from wall coverings and plaster.

Various wall coverings and plasters in case of natural drying by airing at the temperature of 20 °C and humidity of 70% will dry up to a layer depth of 1-2 mm in a day.

A dehumidifier capable of removing up to 20-40 liters of condensation water per day is the most economical and effective way of drying the entire room. Drying of wall layers in full depth is controlled by the dehumidifier, first in continuous intensive dehumidifying mode and later until the normal 45-55% RH humidity level is reached. Moisture is removed evenly and effectively from the entire volume of the room – from the walls, ceiling and floor, which is especially important when both walls and floor and ceiling are damaged by flooding. Furniture, appliances and furnishings are also dried in this way.

After drying the walls, it is necessary to disinfect the surfaces and repaint the walls or re-paper the wallpaper. A dehumidifier can also help to dry walls more quickly after renovations and repairs.

CONCLUSIONS

If you have flooded your apartment and need emergency help removing the consequences of flooding, the best solution is to contact a company that provides such a service. To get your home repaired quickly, contact Guru Restoration. We have been working throughout Toronto and the GTA since 2009. We have extensive experience in these matters. It can be difficult to renovate a home on your own, but we know our business very well and our prices are very reasonable.