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What to Do Before a Water Damage Restoration Visit
A restoration visit goes better when the house is ready for it, and getting the house ready is mostly a matter of small, simple steps. Clearing access, noting when the water started, and moving belongings out of the way are all things you can do before the professional arrives, and they all make the visit faster and more effective. What you should not do is try to fix the damage yourself before the visit, because that can make the inspection harder and the drying less effective.
- ✓ Written for New Jersey homeowners
- ✓ Visit first, then a plan
- ✓ Call to arrange a visit
This guide covers what to do before the visit, in general terms, and what to leave alone. The steps are practical, and none of them requires tools or expertise, only a little time and a clear head.
Clear access to the affected area
The first step is to clear a path to the wet area. Move furniture, boxes, and anything else that blocks the doorway or the route to the affected rooms, so the professional and the equipment can get in without delay. If the wet area is in the basement, clear the stairs and the area at the bottom of them. If it is upstairs, clear the hallway and the landing. The equipment used for water removal and drying is bulky, and a clear route saves time that is better spent on the water.
Clear access also means clearing the area around the water heater, the washing machine, and any fixture that may be the source of the leak, so those can be looked at without moving things first. Do not move anything that is sitting in standing water, and do not move anything heavy on your own. If an item is too heavy or too wet to move safely, leave it where it is and mention it when the professional arrives.
Note when the water started and where it came from
Before the visit, write down what you know about the loss. When did you first notice the water? Where do you think it came from, a burst pipe, a leaking appliance, rain, or something else? Which rooms are affected, and how far has the water spread? Has the water been stopped, and if so, how? These notes take a few minutes to write, and they are the first thing the inspector will want to know.
If you have photos of the damage, taken before anything was moved, have them ready to show. Photos taken from the doorway, showing the full extent of the wet area, are the most useful, and photos of the water line on walls and of damaged belongings are useful too. Homeowners in Linden and across New Jersey who arrive at a visit with notes and photos in hand help the inspection go faster, and a faster inspection means the work starts sooner.
Move belongings away from water if it is safe
Move belongings away from the water where it is safe to reach them. Lift rugs, pick up boxes from the floor, and move electronics and small furniture to a dry room. Prioritise things that cannot be replaced, such as photographs and documents, and wet cardboard boxes, which fall apart quickly. Move the contents of wet boxes into plastic bins or bags if you have them, and note what is wet and where it was.
Do not move anything that is sitting in water near an outlet or an appliance, and do not move anything that is contaminated, from a toilet overflow or a sewage backup. Contaminated belongings should be left where they are and mentioned during the visit. The flood damage cleanup page covers how contaminated water is handled in general terms. What matters is that the belongings you move are moved safely, and the ones you leave are left for the professional.
What to leave alone
There are a few things to leave alone before the visit. Do not open up walls or pull up flooring to investigate the damage, because that can spread water and make the inspection harder. Do not paint over a stain or lay new flooring over a damp subfloor, because that hides the damage rather than fixing it. Do not switch on fans or heaters that are standing in water, and do not use a household vacuum cleaner on standing water.
Do not throw anything away until you have photographed it. A damaged rug or a soaked box of books may look like rubbish, but until it is documented, the loss is hard to describe. And do not turn the water back on if you shut it off to stop a leak, because the leak will start again. The visit is the time for the professional to look, and the house should be left as it is, wet and untouched, so the inspection sees the full picture.
Practical things to have ready
A few practical things are worth having ready for the visit. Know where the main water shut-off is, and whether it is on or off. Know where the breaker panel is, and whether the power is on in the affected area. Have a list of the rooms affected, and a note of anything that is valuable or cannot be replaced. If you have pets, keep them in a dry room away from the wet area, so they are safe and out of the way.
It is also worth knowing who to call if the visit turns up something unexpected, such as a gas smell or a structural problem. If there is a smell of gas, leave the house and call 911 first. The emergency water removal page covers the first stage of the work once the visit begins. A house that is ready for a visit is a house where the work can start straight away, and that is the best use of the visit.
If the visit finds more damage than expected
A restoration visit sometimes finds more damage than anyone expected, and that is not a surprise, because water hides. A leak that looked small from the surface may have wet the wall cavity behind it, the floor underneath it, and the room next door, and the moisture readings are what show the full extent. When that happens, the plan changes, and the work grows, because the drying needs to cover a larger area, and the repair needs to cover more materials. That is not a failure of the first assessment. It is the inspection doing its job, and finding the water that was hidden.
What matters is how the change is handled. The professional should explain what was found, where the water has spread, and what the new plan is, in plain language, and the homeowner should be told before the work grows, not after. Ask for the new readings, and ask what the change means for the drying time and for the repair. A visit that finds more damage is a visit that has done its job properly, because the damage was there whether it was found or not, and finding it now is far better than finding it months later, when the repair has already been done and has to be done again.
Key Takeaways
- The first step is to clear a path to the wet area.
- Before the visit, write down what you know about the loss.
- Move belongings away from the water where it is safe to reach them.
- There are a few things to leave alone before the visit.
- A few practical things are worth having ready for the visit.
- A restoration visit sometimes finds more damage than anyone expected, and that is not a surprise, because water hides.
Your Next Step
If this guide matches what you found at home, the next step is a visit — not a guess. Call and describe what you found, and the visit is arranged from what you describe. The Water Damage Restoration page explains what that service covers, and the structural drying page explains how drying works after the water is removed.
Do not enter a flooded room, do not touch electrics in or near standing water, and do not try to clean up sewage yourself — sewage is Category 3 black water and a health hazard.
Keep the guides on this site bookmarked: the first guide, the signs guide, and the preparation guide cover the checks worth repeating — after a leak, a flood, or a burst pipe.
Water Damage Restoration help is available across New Jersey. See water-damage-restoration in St. Cloud, NJ for one local example, or find your town on the service areas page.
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