Amazing Clean Up Tips after a Flood
Cleaning Up After a Flood Shopping List:
- Rubber gloves
- Strong disinfectant spray
- bleach
- Strong garden hose sprayer
- Paper towels
- Heavy duty garbage bags
- Two strap protective mask to prevent breathing mold spores
- Wardrobe Boxes
- Medium Boxes with Handles
- Small Boxes with Handles
- Organization Tape for Boxes
All-Inclusive Flood Cleaning Tips
Step One: Empty The House
- Do what you can to remove items from your home that have not been damaged by the flood. Put these items into boxes and take them to a reputable storage company. We highly recommend utilizing wardrobe boxes for your clothing, medium boxes with handles for your bathroom, kitchen, and bedroom items, and small boxes with handles for your kitchen items (use a dish pack for dishes). Utilize organization tape to quickly organize your boxes and items after the chaos of the flood.
Steps Two: Cleaning
Contaminated mud
- If the flood brought mud into your house, try to shovel out as much as possible. Spray hard surfaces down with a garden hose.
- Surfaces that were covered with mud should be disinfected. Use hot water and a heavy-duty cleaner (make sure it is a disinfectant cleaner)
In the kitchen
- Submerge glass, porcelain, china, plastic dinnerware and enamelware for 10 minutes in a disinfecting solution of 2 tablespoons of chlorine bleach per gallon of hot water.
- Disinfect silverware, metal utensils, and pots and pans by boiling in water for 10 minutes. (do not use chlorine bleach b/c it reacts with many metals and causes them to darken)
- Cupboards and counters need to be cleaned and rinsed with a chlorine bleach solution before storing dishes.
Furniture and household items
- Take furniture, rugs, bedding and clothing outside to dry as soon as possible. Keep an eye on the weather to ensure it does not rain while these items are drying
- Use an air conditioner or dehumidifier to remove moisture or open at least two windows to ventilate with outdoor air.
- Use fans to circulate air in the house.
- If mold and mildew have already developed, brush off items outdoors to prevent scattering spores in the house.
- Vacuum floors and wash with disinfectant
- Any mattress that was wet from the flood should be thrown away, as should toys and stuffed animals may have to be thrown away if they’ve been contaminated by floodwaters.
- Freeze your important photographs, books and important papers to be cleaned at a later date.
- They should be dried carefully and slowly.
- Wash the mud off and store the articles in plastic bags and put them in a frost-free freezer to protect from mildew and further damage until you have time to thaw and clean them or take them to a professional.
Ceilings and walls
- For those of you who do not know, wallboard acts like a sponge when wet. Unfortunately, this means that all wallboard, plaster and paneling affected by the flood needs to be removed
Electrical & Cooling systems
- Contact an electrician to repair and inspect before turning your electrical switches back on.
- Inspect all cooling systems and remove any flood-soaked insulation
Appliances
- Stains, odors, silt and gritty deposits are all inevitable after effects on appliances after a flood. Be sure to properly clean these elements
- Professional cleaning is highly recommended for electronics, TVs and radios, washing machines, dryers, dishwashers, and vacuum cleaners. You never know where mud can get into a wiring aspect of these electronics, creating a potential hazard for you
Pump out the basement
- When pumping your basement, be mindful of the water pressure on your walls. Because of the pressure of the water, too quickly pumping of the water may damage the foundation, causing the walls and floors to crack and collapse
Floors
- Unfortunately, wood, vinyl, and tiling subflooring may need to be removed so the subflooring can dry thoroughly which may take several months. Open windows and doors to expose the boards to as much air as possible.
- Clean and dry carpets and rugs as quickly as possible. If sewage-contaminated floodwater covered your carpeting, discard it for health safety reasons.
- Discard carpet if it was under water for 24 hours or more.
- Wooden floors should be dried gradually. Sudden drying could cause cracking or splitting. Remove hardwood floor boards to prevent buckling. Remove a board every few feet to reduce buckling caused by swelling. Clean and dry wood before attempting repairs
