The rain has stopped, but that doesn't mean the water is done. If you went downstairs this morning and found a dark patch on the carpet, a soft spot in the hardwood, or a damp smell in the media room, the next few hours make a big difference in what can be saved.
This is a short list of what to do first. It isn't a full guide to drying a house. For more on how water gets into lower levels after heavy rain, see our earlier post on lower-level water after heavy rain in Fort Worth.
Be safe before you look around
Don't walk into standing water if there are outlets, lamps, a TV wall or the electrical panel nearby. If the panel or anything plugged in is wet, stay out of that area. Call your utility, or 911 if anyone is in danger. Ready.gov's flood guidance says the same thing: don't touch electrical equipment if it's wet or if you're standing in water.
Don't run a household vacuum or shop-style cleaner on standing water near power. If you need to check the yard or a low street, remember the National Weather Service's Turn Around, Don't Drown advice. Moving water is stronger than it looks, even after the storm has passed.
Know where your water shutoff is. Rain is usually the cause, but if a pipe, water heater or appliance is leaking too, turn the water off at the fixture or the main if you can get to it safely.
Photograph it before you move anything
This step is the one people skip, and it's the one they usually wish they hadn't. Before you lift a rug or pull a box off the floor, take pictures:
- The outside of the house, including the roofline and any spot where water ran toward the foundation
- Each wet room from the doorway, wide enough to show the whole space
- The water line on walls, baseboards, cabinet toe-kicks and furniture legs
- The belongings that got wet, where they sit right now
- Where the water came in, if you can see it
A slow video walking through the space helps too. Do all of this from somewhere dry. Don't climb on the roof for a better angle. Our guide on how to document water damage before cleanup goes through it shot by shot.
Move what you can and protect the finishes
In a finished lower level, the damage usually lands on the things that cost the most to replace: hardwood or engineered floors, built-ins, cabinetry and electronics.
- Lift rugs, art, electronics and anything else stored on the floor up onto tables or higher shelves.
- Raise furniture legs onto blocks or foil so they aren't sitting on wet flooring.
- Wipe standing water away from cabinet toe-kicks and open the doors so air can reach inside.
- Pull small rugs out of the wet area so they don't keep feeding water into the floor underneath.
- Keep damaged items until they've been photographed. Don't throw anything out first.
Hardwood can cup quickly when water gets underneath it. Sometimes it can be saved if drying starts early, and sometimes it can't. The answer comes from moisture readings, not from how the floor looks.
Why it can still be wet after it looks dry
A mop and a box fan can make a floor look fine and still leave water behind. Water runs under floating floors, soaks into carpet pad, and wicks up the back of baseboards and drywall. Carpet that's dry on top can still be soaked underneath.
Professionals measure and dry to the IICRC S500 water damage standard. That means mapping what's wet, setting equipment, and checking readings until the structure is actually dry. That's what we do with structural drying. In homes where people are still living, we can usually dry the room while the family stays in the house.
When to call instead of waiting it out
Call right away if any of these are true:
- Water is still coming in.
- The house is open to the weather, like a roof opening or a broken window or door. That needs emergency board-up or tarping before anything else.
- Sewage or floor-drain backup has reached living space. That's Category 3 water, and you shouldn't clean it up yourself.
Get someone out soon, even if nothing is moving, when:
- Water got behind baseboards or under the flooring.
- More than one room is wet.
- The lower level still feels cool and damp a day after the rain stopped.
If the scene is stable and nothing is moving, you can request a callback and share the details there. The form is for calm situations. It doesn't send a crew, so if water is still active, call.
A note on insurance
We document the loss and dry the house. Coverage questions are best answered by your insurance agent or carrier. For background, our pages on flood insurance in Fort Worth and public adjusters versus restoration contractors are good places to start.
If more rain is coming
Before the next round, check the National Weather Service in Fort Worth forecast and its flood safety page. Then go back downstairs and look at the same spots again.
Photograph first, then call
Sources
- National Weather Service, Turn Around, Don't Drown
- National Weather Service Fort Worth, forecast office
- National Weather Service, Flood safety
- Ready.gov, Floods
- IICRC, S500 Standard for Professional Water Damage Restoration
- PRC, Structural drying
- PRC, How to document water damage before cleanup in Fort Worth