Got a Flooded Kitchen? How to Handle the Situation

A flood in your kitchen can be really damaging as you have lots of expensive appliances, flooring, and cabinetry in your kitchen. Kitchen floods can occur due to a leaking refrigerator, clogged kitchen sink, burst water line, or dishwasher leak. When your kitchen is flooded, you can't use your kitchen to prepare or make food. If your kitchen floods, it is essential to know what to do to clean it up and get your space back to normal.

Turn Off the Electricity

First, you are going to want to turn off the electricity. You don't know what the water got into, so you will want to turn off the electricity until you can clean things up and ensure that the outlets were not damaged.

You also don't know the extent of damage done to the electrical-based appliances in your kitchen, so you don't want to use them until they are assessed by a professional. A water damage restoration company will have the tools to determine if your appliances and electrical outlets are safe to use.

Take Pictures of the Damage

Second, you are going to want to take pictures of the damage to your kitchen. You will need these pictures to file an insurance claim and get your insurance to help pay for the damage. You want pictures that show the extensive damage before you call in the water damage restoration company to fix things up.

Get Air Circulating

Third, you need to get the air circulating in your kitchen. Moving air in the kitchen is going to help the cabinets and flooring dry out faster. You can also use fans to get the air circulating. When the water damage restoration company shows up, they will bring industrial fans to help move the air around.

Remove the Moisture

Fourth, you are going to want to remove the moisture from the air. If you have a dehumidifier, get it running in the kitchen. This will help pull moisture from the cabinets and flooring. The water damage restoration company you hire can bring in more dehumidifiers to assist with the job. They will have oversized dehumidifiers that can pull out moisture quicker from the air. This will help remove any extra moisture stuck in your cabinets and floors. They may even put some smaller units inside of your cabinets to help dry them out.

If your kitchen floods, you will want to contact a water damage restoration company right away. They can help you deal with the clean-up and then help fix the damage. With water damage in a kitchen, the flooring, drywall, and cabinets may need to be removed depending on how extensive the damage is, or they may be able to be saved.