Water Damage Restoration

If the floor drain in your basement backs up, your whole basement can be flooded. What is the source of the problem though? There could be a blockage in your main line, and the flood is local waste that can’t exit your home. Or, there could be a problem in the public system, which is sending waste, or backflow, from the sewer system into your house. Water or sewage in your basement can damage walls, floors, and carpets, and destroy furniture and belongings. It can also quickly cause mold.

Causes

If there are lower elevation drains, like in a shower or bathtub, that back up too, then the problem is likely in your main line. You may also hear gurgling when the washing machine empties, tub drains, or toilet is flushed. The basement floor drain backup is the first evidence that you have a blockage. Blockages happen if there is a break in the pipe, tree roots have grown into the pipe, or something has gone down the drain or toilet in the house.

The second cause of a basement drain backup is when flooding comes in from the public sewer, which would include rain water or possibly waste from multiple homes. This can happen when the entire drainage system gets overwhelmed by high levels of rain. If your basement is lower than the current water level, then some of that water will try to come up through your basement drain.

If your basement is flooded, but the water didn’t come from the floor drain, then it may have come in through cracks in the house’s foundation. This is sometimes due to clogged gutters, incorrect sloping of the yard, or extra groundwater.

What to Do

Here’s what to do if your basement drain backs up:

1. Turn off the water supply in the house. Running more water could worsen the flooding.
2. Turn off the electricity or call your power company if you need them to turn it off. Don’t step in the water if it’s covering electrical outlets.
3. Open the windows to let out any toxic sewage fumes (and smells).
4. Move people and pets away from the flood water. Wear protective gear if you need to be in the area.
5. A small backup can be cleaned up with bleach or disinfectant and a shop vac.
6. Carpets should be cleaned with hot water and carpet cleaner. Or, they should be replaced.
7. Use fans and dehumidifiers to make sure the area dries quickly before mold grows.
8. If the backup is larger, call in the professionals to deal with the hazardous situation.

If you’re not connected to a public sewer and instead have a septic system and sump pump, a backup of the basement drain could be caused by a sump pump problem. To check on this, first stop using water in your house. Then check the ground fault switch for the sump pump and reset it if it has tripped. If it doesn’t begin working again, it may need to be replaced.

Prevention

If backflow causes your basement drain to flood periodically, you could install a backwater valve or floating backflow drain plug. These features can close off your main line to prevent water from flowing the wrong direction and into your house. You could instead choose to create an overhead sewer system. You may also want to have your sewer inspected and cleaned annually to reduce the likelihood of a blockage in your main line, especially if you have tree roots that grow into your pipes.

Contact us at Satin Touch Homes Reinvented if you need water cleaned up at any hour. We’ll come to eliminate smells, prevent mold from growing, and sanitize sewage contamination.

Types of Damage

Mold

The biggest risk of letting soggy carpets and upholstery sit untreated is that it can grow mold. Mold spores seep in from the water or float in on the outside air, and then wait to get wet. Once that happens, it only needs to be incubated in a warm environment for a day before it starts sprouting. It smells bad and it looks gross, but the worst part is that the spores get in people’s lungs, triggering allergies and asthma symptoms. This is especially bad for children.

Water Stains

Carpets and upholstery can acquire stains in a couple of ways, but the dark spots from water are some of the trickiest to remove. The stains come from the minerals in the water getting in the fibers.

First Steps To Cleaning Up Water Damage

Preventing water from sitting on your upholstery or carpet is the best way to keep stains and mold at bay. To do this, soak up extra water with towels and then turn on the air conditioner or run a fan. If the outside air is dry, open the windows to let air circulate over the carpet.

If mold or mildew has grown on the item, you can rub this off using a clean cloth and undiluted vinegar. You can then go over your carpet with a wet/dry vacuum and point a fan at the area.

Small water stains on upholstery can be eliminated too. First, vacuum the upholstery. Dab cool water on the stains with a clean cloth, then cover the stain with paper towels, folded to about an eighth of an inch thick. Point a fan at the papers or run a hair dryer set to ‘cool’ over it. If the stains remain, you can scrub it with rubbing alcohol.

When To Call A Professional

There are 3 categories of water damage, and what category you have comes from the type of water involved. Category 1 is from clean water, such as from a leaking sink. Category 2 is called gray water, and it might come from sources such as broken toilets. It might make people sick if they drink it. Category 3 is called black water and comes from a source such as a sewer. A water damage restoration company should be called as quickly as possible when your carpet and upholstery is flooded with gray or black water, or if the items are soaked through and the water is up to your ankles.  If gray or black water was involved, the potential health risks will have to be mitigated, and the restoration company will have the tools to do that. They can also perform an inspection to make sure the rest of the house wasn’t damaged.

There are a couple of methods that a restoration company can use to prevent water stains and mold from growing on your upholstery and carpet. Steam cleaning, sometimes called a hot-water extraction method, comes highly recommended in many situations. Dehumidification techniques will have to be employed quickly to keep mold spores from growing and furniture from warping. High-speed air movers may be used to evaporate as much water as possible from the fibers. The professionals may leave a dehumidifier on for up to 3 days, depending on how much flooding occurred.

Satin Touch has dealt with water damaged carpets and upholstery for many years and would love to help you. If you would like more information about fighting water damage, please contact us.

A backed up, damaged sewer system causes waste water to collect inside your home and it makes a nasty mess that smells as bad as it looks. Sewer backup isn’t like a flood of clean water, in fact, it’s a toxic brew of potentially health-threatening contaminants.

It’s imperative to your family’s health and safety that you take care of the problem as quickly as possible. Before you plunge in to start cleaning up the mess, there are a few things that you should keep in mind. Following these simple tips for what you should and shouldn’t do will ensure that you stay safe and that the mess is completely cleaned up so you can enjoy your home once again.

What to Do After a Sewer Backup

A backed up sewer can happen because of a variety of things, from tree roots collecting in the sewer line to a clog caused by toilet paper, feminine hygiene products, or any other foreign object. No matter what caused the backup, the result is the same, waste water inside your home. To protect against further damage, and to keep yourself, your family, and your pets take the following actions:

• Stop Using the Water – Cut the water supply off to your home so that no one flushes the toilet, or runs any water. While it may be an inconvenience, it will help to ensure you’re not adding more waste water to the mix and that will make it easier to clean up.
• Shut Off the Electricity – If it’s safe for you to do so, make sure that you turn off the power to the area that’s affected to avoid the risk of being electrocuted. If it’s not safe, call your utility provider to cut the power until the water has been removed.
• Ventilate Your Home – The smell associated with sewage is unpleasant, to say the least, but the fumes can also be dangerous. Open the windows and doors to allow fresh air in. Place fans in windows pointing towards the outside to draw the foul air out and to eliminate any build up of fumes and odors.
• Protect Your Family – Keep everyone, especially children, those with a weakened immune system, and your pets away from the affected area. Keep yourself safe by wearing protective clothing, gloves, and a face mask if you’re going near the backed up sewer water.
• Sanitize If You Can – A small backup with minimal water damage is fairly easy to take care of for a homeowner. Add bleach to any standing water to help disinfect it, suck up the water with a wet dry vac, and thoroughly clean the area with a bleach solution.
• Remove Carpeting & Rugs – Carpeting that’s been saturated with sewer water should be removed and discarded. However, areas that come in minor contact can be cleaned using very hot water and a carpet cleaner. The same holds true for rugs. If you want to keep them, wash them in hot water.

Get Professional Help With Sewer Cleanup

The above suggestions are fine for a minor sewer backup, however, if it’s a major backup with lots of standing water and waste, DO NOT attempt cleanup on your own. Not only is it potentially hazardous to your health, it’s also a very difficult job that requires a great deal of skill and experience. Besides, it’s also a nasty job that you probably don’t want to deal with anyway.

Contact us at Satin Touch immediately so that they can assess the situation and mitigate the damage. We’re available 24 hours a day so we’re always here if you need us. We’re also highly trained, experienced, and we have all the proper equipment necessary to take care of the problem quickly and efficiently. We’ll handle everything for you and make sure that the sewage is cleaned up and that your home is sanitized and safe for you and your family once again.

An overflowing bathtub is one of the most common reasons for water damage here in the Twin Cities area. Maybe you started running water and then forgot about it, or encountered a problem with one of your knobs that made it impossible to shut the water off. Your children may have even been playing in the bathtub and overfilled it. Whatever the reason, there are a few steps you should take to mitigate the damage, including the following.

Stop the Flow

The first thing you must do is to stop the flow of water. Shut off your faucet, or if that isn’t possible then cut the water off at the main. Release the plug so that as much water as possible is able to flow down your drain.

Cleaning up Water Damage

Next, you will want to get rid of any remaining water that is on the floor. If you have standing water, use a bucket to scoop up as much as possible and deposit it back into your bathtub. In the event your bathtub is clogged, you will need to pour it down your sink instead.

Once you have removed all standing water, vacuum the area with a shop vac. Next, use towels, old rugs, or sheets to absorb the remainder. Remove any items that may have been soaked in the process. Place them in a garbage bag, bucket, or plastic tote and then take them outside for further inspection.

Safety in Other Rooms

An extreme overflow can result in water getting into other areas of your home as well. If this is the case, then you will want to first ensure that no electronic equipment comes into contact with standing water. Move televisions, computers and other items to a higher location, provided it is safe for you to do so. Never move or unplug electronics if doing so would require you to tread through water. Instead, turn off the breaker to those plugs and wait for professional assistance.

Many homeowners forget about the possibility of water damage in other rooms. As a result, they fail to use caution and often wind up slipping and falling. Always treat adjacent areas as though they could have water damage until you have had a chance to fully inspect them.

Importance of an Inspection

You may feel as though you have successfully cleaned up your water damage and that no further action is necessary. That’s not always the case, as there are special considerations when dealing with bathtub overflows. The biggest one is the possibility of mold damage. According to the Minnesota Department of Health, moderate temperatures, nutrients, and moisture all contribute to mold growth. As such, a flooded bathroom provides the ideal conditions for mold to thrive in.

You must also be concerned with the possibility of floor damage. This is an especially big issue in upstairs bathrooms, where a weakened floor could result in a family member falling through the ceiling.

Don’t risk your health and safety, when we can perform an inspection for you. We’ll assess the damage and let you know what steps need to be taken in order to make your home safe again. We offer emergency service 24/7, and are happy to assist those in Ham Lake and other locations near the Twin Cities.

Contact Us Today For Bathtub Overflow Water Damage

At Satin Touch, we often hear from people who have bathtub overflow damage. Rest assured we know just how to handle this problem to mitigate the negative effects on your home and family. We’ll provide you with professional, friendly service, and invite you to contact us.