The True Cost of a House Flood

Apr 19 2016

A flooded basement or any flooded area in the home can be serious. It can interrupt your life, cause damage to your home or business, and cost a fortune out of pocket. Flooding, especially basement flooding, is all too common for Minnesota homeowners. The cost of repair is often great, much greater than the steps it would take to add protection against flooding to your home. Take a look at what flooding will cost you, and how you can better avoid these costs.

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Types of Flooding

There are two common ways a basement can flood. Whether it be a natural or a man made flood, each comes with its own set of problems and ways to avoid them. It is essential to protect your home against flooding. Here is what you can expect from these types of floods:

Natural Floods – Caused by heavy rains, flash flooding, and mudflows. Most often these types of flooding affect basements. Gutters, proper yard sloping, and sealing window cracks can all protect your home from this type of flooding.
Man-made Floods – This includes burst pipes, plumbing problems, and problems with the water heater. Keep your pipes clear, protect them during the winter, and be aware of the age of your appliances to avoid any kind of man made flooding.

While your flood may be caused by different factors, the water damage will be the same. The best ways to avoid flooding your basement is by considering any leaky basement windows and foundation or checking for plumbing leaks. The best way to avoid plumbing leaks is by keeping an eye on any leaking water tanks or pipes and replacing your washing machine supply hose if it is ever damaged.

The Cost

The Cost for flood repair varies greatly depending on how much water enters into your home, business, or basement. Other factors to consider is what kind of water and how soon you attend to the problem. Typical cost of a flooded basement cleanup can range from between $3,000 and $10,000 with an average of $4,000. Some things to consider in the cost include:

How deep the water is in the home. Just an inch of water will be less of a problem than a whole foot. If water needs to be pumped out of a basement, it will add to the cost.
The type of water in the home. There’s a big difference between clean water coming from a burst pipe, and sewage water or other toxic waste. The latter can be extremely dangerous. Everything it touches must be torn out and replaced for health safety and concerns.
Homeowners Insurance will not cover normal flooding, although there are some situations it does include hail or broken water piping. Be prepared in case your insurance company doesn’t cover your home flooding disaster.

Flooding Tips

After a home or basement flood, it is important to take action as quickly as possible. When assessing the situation, remember these tips:

Safety first! Before going into a flooded basement to assess or repair the damage, always check that the electricity and gas are turned off. Wear rubber boots and gloves when repairing to avoid any electrical contact.
Identify the leak. It is important to act fast and locate where the leak is coming from to prevent it from causing any further damage or overflow.
Call in the professionals. If you are struggling to find the cause of the leak, call your local disaster restoration company. Contact the professionals at Rapid Restoration and we can help to identify the issue promptly and clean up the mess.
Contact your insurance. Contact your insurance company right away to learn what they can cover for you, depending on flooding damages.
Remove the water. The best way to remove water is by using a wet vacuum or pool pump. If you have a significant amount of standing water, pumping it out too quickly may cause the walls to buckle.
Clean up area. You are definitely going to want to throw away contaminated or damaged items. Be sure to wash any flooded floors or walls as well.

A flooded basement can cause many problems for your home. To avoid paying thousands of dollars towards repairs or damages, try first to prevent these problems from happening. If you have a flooded basement, figure out the best way to cost effectively fix the issue. Want to learn more about water damage? Check out our complete guide!

Try Waterproofing Your Home

To avoid issues in the future, you might want to hire a contractor to waterproof your walls and reseal any foundation that was flooded by water. A waterproofed home can prevent any future expenses caused by floods and is a great investment to consider. Waterproofing your home is a great way to protect it and keep it safe.

Call Your Local Restoration Company

If you have recently experienced any type of flooding in your home or work place, you probably understand that it can become a huge headache and dangerous process. It is definitely better to leave the job to the professionals and Rapid Restoration is here to help! Learn more about how we can help restore your damaged home or property and what services we have to offer!