How to deal with a burst pipe and a flooded house in Peekskill

Ahh, a pipe just burst in your house in Peekskill! Water was spurting everywhere for hours, completely unattended. The lower level of your home is now officially flooded. Every homeowner dreads this and hopes they never have to deal with it. But, if you’re here, it probably did happen to you, and you’re mid-spiral trying to figure this all out. Depending on the extent of the damage, you may need the help of a restoration operator, a plumber, or likely; both. But you can take steps before help arrives on site and throughout the process to help yourself out in the future.

What can cause a pipe to burst?

Many things could cause a pipe to burst in Peekskill; most, unfortunately, are out of your control—the number one culprit: Mother Nature.

• frozen water

  If you live in a particularly cold area, the water in the pipes can freeze, breaking down the structural integrity of a pipe, and leading to an eventual burst.

• Tree roots

The other sneaky way Mother Nature intervenes is with tree roots. As trees grow above the ground, they also grow below, taking deeper and deeper roots. These roots are attracted to water and ‘seek out’ pipes. The roots wrap around the pipe, trying to find a way in, and eventually, the pipe burst. Jeff Goldblum was right; life indeed does find a way.

• Old pipes

The other most likely situation is that your pipes are older and have begun to rust and corrode, leading to a burst pipe in Peekskill. Or you may be dealing with a clogged pipe, placing too much pressure built up around the clog, which puts extra stress on the pipe. 

What to do when a pipe bursts and floods your house in peekskill

Turn off your power supply

The very first thing you should do in the case of any water damage or flood in peekskill is to turn off your power supply. Water and power are not the best of friends, well maybe they are, but they don’t like you when they’re together. 

If it is safe, turn off your power supply immediately. If it is unsafe to do so, meaning you would have to tread through the water to get to the power source, leave immediately and call for professional help.

Stop the source of the water

You will need to turn off the source of the water. Sometimes, that may mean merely reaching over to the back of the toilet and turning off the individual water supply. But, in the case of a burst pipe, something much more significant has gone wrong, and you’ll need to turn off the water supply to your whole house, located outside. 

Save what you can

Now is the time to save what you can (only if it’s safe to do so). You can remove damp or marginally wet items and put them in another room to dry out. In the case of photos, papers, and cards, try this trick; put them in a sealable ziplock bag and pop them in the freezer. Then, you can return to them and see if they are salvageable at a more stable time. 

Notify your insurance provider

Pretty straightforward. Dealing with a burst pipe clean-up or flood damage clean-up in peekskill can be quite costly, depending on the extent of the damage. It’s always a good move to loop in your insurance provider. They will be able to guide you through the process to redeem some of the costs you’re about to accrue. 

Document the process

This step is crucial if you want to receive the biggest claim possible from your insurance provider. If you have turned off the water and power supply and called a restoration team, it’s a good move to whip out your phone and start documenting before anyone really ‘get’s in there’ and starts reversing the damage. Photos are good, and videos are great. We advise you to capture both at all stages throughout the process and keep all related invoices and receipts. 

Call a water damage restoration team 

A burst pipe and a flooded lower level is not a DIY kind of job. Even if you do consider yourself quite ‘handy.’ A full-service professional restoration team knows exactly what to do to save the most of your house and belongings as possible. They also come with industry equipment to tackle the large spread of water and the steps to prevent future issues such as mold growth. 

A restoration team will come in and assess the issue before beginning the removal of standing water. Then, they will dry out your home with industrial-strength air movers and dehumidifiers and advise you on how you can help hasten the process (leave windows and doors open wherever possible). 

As part of a flood damage clean-up job, a restoration team will remove any ruined items, such as drywall, and repair any items possible. 

Act fast and entrust professionals to do what they’re great at!