Tips For Apartment-Dwellers To Deal With Water Damage

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Do you live in an apartment? Has your home recently suffered water damage due to a fire that occurred in a neighbor's apartment? You may be wondering what your next steps should be, in order to minimize your losses. Here are some useful tips on how to deal with your waterlogged apartment:

Open all doors and windows: As soon as you're allowed back into your apartment, open every door and window possible. It doesn't matter if the fire happened in the middle of winter or the height of summer, you still need to ventilate your apartment. The increased humidity from the water will quickly cause mold and mildew to start growing on any damp surface. Opening your apartment will allow the humidity to escape, hindering the growth of mold or mildew. If it is below freezing outside, the cold will also help to inhibit the growth of mold and mildew.

Contact a water damage removal company: Your landlord may have already done this before you got back to your apartment. However, if you can't confirm when a professional will be in your apartment to help assess and repair the damage, you should contact a company yourself. The sooner you have a professional looking at the damage, the more you may be able to recover or repair. A professional will be able to spot water damage that you may not have noticed. They will also be able to recommend where to get some of your belongings repaired.

Clean out your fridge: Your refrigerator may have been sitting without power for several hours or even several days, depending on the severity of the fire. Although your landlord may replace a fridge that has obtained odors from expired food, it may take them some time to do so. Cleaning out your fridge as soon as possible will help to minimize any smell it might have. Once your fridge is cleaned out, leave it unplugged until an appliance repair technician can look at it. The water damage could have caused a short which may have harmed your fridge.

Take pictures of everything: No matter who is paying for the water damage repair, make sure to take pictures of everything, both before and after repairs are carried out. Keep copies of these pictures in a secure location. If you continue to live in the apartment for some time after the water damage, you will want proof of changes made to the apartment while you were living there. Some unscrupulous landlords, for example, may attempt to charge you for repainting over an unauthorized paint job, even though it was needed because of the water damage. To learn more, contact a business like ServiceMaster Of Edmonton Disaster Restoration.

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26 April 2015

Restarting After A Hurricane

I never thought much about natural disasters when I was living in the middle of the country, but relocating to the coast brought the threat of hurricanes. A few years ago a big storm ripped off part of our roof after we were evacuated. Arriving home to half a foot of water standing in every room was shocking and scary. Some helpful and reassuring damage contractors managed to save our beloved home, despite all the wind and water damage left behind by the hurricane. Now I spend my spare time advocating for families that need help with storm damage so they get the best results.