How to Clean Up the Water Damage After a Burst Pipe

1/16/2020 (Permalink)

A frozen pipe like this one can send gallons of water into your home, ruining floors, walls, ceilings, and possessions.

A burst water pipe can be disastrous. You could end up with a flooded floor and severe water damage to your costly possessions and property. It can be overwhelming.

Here at SERVPRO Hackensack / Little Ferry, we know how important it is to act fast when you’re dealing with a burst pipe. Unfortunately, the cold weather season is when burst frozen pipes are most common. So, we want to make sure you’ll be prepared.

Here’s what needs to be done to effectively clean up the water damage:

Shut Off the Water

Once your pipe bursts, water will flow continuously until you shut off the water supply. To do this, locate and turn off the main shutoff valve, typically located in a basement or utility room.

Repair the Pipe and Restore the Damage

Remove Damaged Items

Usually a plumber will come and take care of repairing the damaged pipe. This needs to be done before any restoration work can begin.

Your next step is to remove any wet and damaged items from the area. If there are any wet items you want to try to salvage, try to start drying them as quickly as possible. Damaged items should be disposed in order to prevent mold growth and contamination. 

It’s also a good idea to move any additional furniture and/or any important personal items away from the affected area, just in case.

Remove Water

Extract the standing water from the area as quickly as you can. 

You can start with a wet-dry vac, just be sure to keep emptying the storage tank so that it won’t overflow.  SERVPRO has professional-grade equipment that will extract even what a wet-dry vac can't.

Pro tip: NEVER use a vacuum cleaner, as they are not meant to deal with water and could pose an electrical hazard.

Dry

Once as much water is removed  as possible, the drying process is begun by using both fans and dehumidifiers.

SERVPRO uses commercial-grade fans, as these will dry out the area faster, which is important in order to minimize the total damage.

Pro tip: if a carpeted area got flooded, make sure to lift the carpeting off the sub-flooring in order to speed up the drying process. Unfortunately, your carpet padding will unlikely be salvageable, but at least it’s relatively inexpensive and simple to replace.