Hopefully you are not reading this while standing ankle deep in water. If so skip immediately to Step 1 below. Otherwise, welcome to the first in a series of articles outlining how to survive a water event at your home or business. At a previous stage in my career, I was an insurance adjuster working with clients to restore their home or business after a flood, fire, theft, etc. The vast majority of the clients I worked with had never given a second thought to dealing with sudden damage to their home or business.

In general, property insurance policies are designed to cover “sudden and accidental” damage to a building. A common example is a burst washing machine supply line. It fails suddenly and without warning. On the other hand, long term damage is generally not covered. For example, a leak in a dishwasher that damages the surrounding cabinets over a period of months or years. Keep these distinctions in mind when determining whether or not to file an insurance claim. When in doubt, read your policy or contact your agent for clarification.

Water is constantly entering your building through the fresh water plumbing in the building. Normally you do not have to think about it since it disappears down the drain once you are done with it. Occasionally things do to work as expected and the water ends up leaking into the building. Leaking pipes and clogged drains are two of the most common reasons for unexpected water. If you are lucky, you were in the room when something went wrong. In other cases, you might wake up or walk into a flooded room. In either case, your home or business is being attacked by liquid. The longer things are wet, the more extensive the damage is going to be. What do you do?

Step 1:

Stop the Flow of Liquid Entering the Building

Everything below assumes the source is on your property. If an adjoining unit appears to be the source, immediately notify the neighbor, building management and/or HOA about the leak.
Try to determine where the liquid is entering the building. In the case of a broken supply line or a sewer backup, this should be fairly quick.

• Listen for the sound of spraying or dripping water.
• Go toward the wettest areas of building.
• Look up at the ceiling to determine if it is coming from the floor above.

If it is coming from above – go upstairs to determine the source.

Once you find the source, make a quick determination whether the fluid in your building is fresh water or sewage from a backup.

Sewage:

• Is there a sewage smell? Is a toilet or shower drain, etc overflowing?
• Turn off every faucet in the building and shut off any appliance that uses water (dishwasher, washing machine, etc.).
• Turn off the supply line valve to an overflowing toilet.
• You need to stop the flow of water into the clogged pipe. If turning everything off does not stop the flow, contact a plumber immediately. The clog may be backing up waste from your neighbors. Use towels and bedding to slow the spread of fluids in your home, but take care not to get the fluid on your skin or in your mouth or eyes.

Fresh Water:

• Water is coming out of the wall, ceiling or floor – Shut off the water to the entire building or unit if in a multi dwelling building (condo, office, etc.).
• Leaking or broken toilet or faucet supply line – Shut off the valve at the wall.
• Overflowing toilet AND the water is clear – Shut off the valve at the wall.
• Overflowing Appliance - Turn off the appliance and shut off the valve at the wall.

Step 2:

Call a Professional to Prevent Further Damage

Now is the time to get help. You need to get everything cleaned up and dried out as quickly as possible. The longer the water is in your building, the greater the damage will be. Most insurance policies require that you take the steps necessary to mitigate further damage. This includes stopping the flow of fluids into the building and cleaning up afterwards.

Contact a plumber if necessary. As long as the flow of fluid has stopped there is no need to pay emergency rates. Schedule for the next available daytime appointment. In most cases, the cost of the repair will not be covered by your insurance policy, so wait a few hours and save yourself some money.

Contact a water mitigation company, also referred to as flood restoration or dry out services. If you are not familiar with one, contact your insurance company first. They may be able to provide you with recommendations.

The vast majority of firms will follow industry standard guidelines to clean up and dry out your building, but prices vary widely. Remember that you will be signing a contract and are liable for the bill. Make sure you understand the charges that will be incurred. If the company will not provide you with an estimate or at least an understandable price schedule, do not sign a contract or let them leave any equipment in you home. You will be charged by the day for any equipment left in your home. Understand how you will be charged for all work and equipment. Make sure you will receive an itemized bill so that you or your insurance company can verify the charges.

While you wait for the water mitigation company to arrive, contact your insurance company and file a claim.

Now that help is on the way and you have stopped the flow of water, it is time to start cleaning up. As long as the leak was fresh water, use a mop, towels, etc. to get rid of the water. If the damage is from a sewer backup, leave the cleanup for a professional.

The dry out work may need to wait for necessary testing. It is a good practice, mandated in many states, to test any materials that need to be removed for asbestos and lead. The pricing for such tests if fairly standardized. Ask about turnaround time. Getting the results quickly will allow the dry out to start sooner. Of course we would prefer you use MobiLab. Our turnaround time is the fastest in the industry.

Step 3:

Work with your Insurance Adjuster

This person is the one who will determine whether or not you are covered for the damage and how much will be reimbursed. It is imperative that the adjuster and every contractor you hire agree on the amount of work needed to restore your home. This is often referred to as the “Scope of Work”. Ensuring everyone agrees on the Scope should eliminate surprises down the line.

Step 4:

Hire a Contractor to Repair the Damage

In most cases you will be able to select your own contractor. Your insurance adjuster should be able to provide recommendations if you are not familiar with anyone. Unless you know a good contractor that has worked on insurance claims, going with one of the companies recommended by your adjuster could save you a lot of headaches and financial surprises later on. No matter who you hire to restore your home, make sure that your contractor and the insurance adjuster agree on the Scope of Work as mentioned above. This will prevent you from being presented with a bill that significantly differs from the settlement amount.

Step 5:

Prevent the Next Disaster

As an adjuster some of the worst damage I saw was caused by a broken toilet supply line. In every case, the supply line used to plumb the water from the valve on the wall to the toilet had a plastic nut on the end attached to the toilet. It is very easy to bump that line while cleaning around the toilet. Over time the nut weakens from the repeated impact and eventually splits. Once it breaks, the bathroom floods in less than a minutes. From there the rest of the building can flood in under an hour.

• Replacing the supply lines on your toilets every 2-3 years is an easy way to prevent this type of damage. This is generally a very inexpensive call to a plumber. If you are the handy, the hose can be replaced in a few minutes using a crescent wrench.
• While you are replacing the toilet supply lines, close and then open the wall valves for all the sinks and appliances in your home. Have a plumber replace any valves that do not close completely. This way you know that if the pipe or machine attached to the valve fails, you will be able to turn off the water in an emergency.
• Check the water pressure in your home. Your home has a pressure regulator that lowers the water pressure in you home to a safe level. Over time the regulator will fail and allow the full street pressure to reach your pipes. Excessive pressure can cause appliances and valves to fail and flood your home. Hardware stores sell inexpensive gauges to check the pressure if you are comfortable doing it yourself or have a plumber check it. Acceptable pressure varies by area, but 40-60 psi is generally considered normal. Have the regulator checked by a plumber if it is outside this range. He/she may be able to adjust the existing one or have to install a new one.

Wrap Up

Testing for asbestos and lead is a small but very important part of the overall repair process. Give MobiLab a call if you need testing or have any questions related to testing for hazardous materials.