Preparing for Water Damage Cleanup in Your Home

As a Columbus homeowner, chances are, that home has either a basement or a crawl space. You may already know that those two areas of a home are the number one most susceptible area in your home for incurring water damages. In fact a study performed by the insurance industry showed that nearly all homes at some point in their lifetime will have some type of water damages in the basement or crawlspace. 

What may come as even more of a surprise, most basic homeowners insurance policies don’t cover flood damages, potentially leaving you to cover the cost of restoration. Southeast Restoration aims to provide this to help you understand whether you should consider purchasing flood coverage, either from a private insurance company or from programs through the federal government, or if you can simply reduce the risk of flooding in your basement or crawl space on your own. 

Water Damage Cleanup In Columbus

The first step will be to perform a risk assessment on your home, and especially the areas surrounding your home. 

Here are a few things to check on the inside of your home: 

• Do you have a sump pump installed and is it working properly? This will help to ensure that water pooling below your home does not make its way into your basement. 
• Have you ever noticed any water pooling in your basement window wells? 
• Is there any noticeable water damage cleanup areas or mold anywhere in your basement? 

The next steps will take place outside of your home. First, let’s take a look at your landscaping. 

• Does the grade of your lawn slope away from your home effectively? You want to ensure that water runoff runs off away from your home and does not pool near your foundation or window wells.  
• Do the gutters on your home extend far enough away from your home so that rain water does not pool near your home? Be sure that the water continues to drain away from your home and does not pool or run back towards your foundation. 
• Are your rain gutters and ground drains clear from debris that may cause them to clog or fail during a rainstorm? It’s a good idea to check these regularly, especially during heavy rain seasons. 

Finally, if you aren’t the original owner of your home and don’t have a complete history of your home, you may want to contact your insurance company. Your insurance agent will have access to a comprehensive list called Comprehensive Loss Underwriting Evaluation (CLUE); this will show all past insurance claims on your home. This is one of the best ways to know if your home has a history of flooding.

Once you have performed your home assessment, you will hopefully have a better understanding of what flooding risks may be out there for your home. This will help you be prepared for any sort of water damage cleanup in your Columbus home that you may have. Remember, the upfront cost to upgrade weak points in your home can save you from a large financial headache in the future. But, if your home has multiple areas of risk that are not easily mitigated, it may be beneficial to consider adding flood insurance.