Guide · Water damage

What to do after water damage: the first day, step by step

After water damage at home, do six things in this order: stop the water, make the area safe around electricity, photograph everything, move belongings out of the wet area, start removing water and drying, and report the loss to your insurer. The first day decides how much of the house can be dried and kept, because the EPA advises drying wet areas and items within 24 to 48 hours to prevent mold growth.

1. Stop the water at its source

Find the main water shutoff before you need it. In many Bay Area homes it sits where the supply line enters the house, often near the front hose bib or in a basement or crawl space; in Dallas–Fort Worth slab homes it is commonly in a box near the street or in the garage. Turning it clockwise until it stops closes the supply to the whole house. If the leak comes from a single fixture, such as a toilet, a sink or the washing machine, its own shutoff valve under or behind it is quicker.

For a water heater leak, close the cold water valve on top of the tank and turn the heater off: gas to the pilot or vacation setting, electric at its breaker. If water is coming from the ceiling, the source may be a bathroom or a pipe above; the main shutoff stops it either way. If water is coming in from outside, during a storm or from rising water, there is nothing to shut off, and your first job is to stay safe and protect what you can.

2. Make the area safe

Water and electricity are the main risk in the first hour. Ready.gov's flood guidance says to turn off electricity only if it is safe to do so, and not to touch electrical equipment when it is wet or when you are standing in water. If outlets, power strips or appliances are under water, or water is dripping through a light fixture, stay out of that room and switch the circuit off at the panel only if you can reach the panel on dry ground. If you cannot, call the utility or an electrician.

Ceilings holding water can come down. A sagging, bulging patch of drywall is full of water; keep people out from under it. Wet floors are slippery, and wet carpet over stairs is worse. If the water came from a sewer backup or from outside floodwater, treat it as contaminated: keep children and pets away, and wear gloves and boots if you have to walk through it.

3. Photograph everything before you move it

This is the step people skip and regret. Before you lift a rug or carry out a box, take wide photos of each affected room from the doorway, then close-ups of the damage: the water line on walls, the wet floor, the stained ceiling, the leaking pipe or fixture. A short video walking through the house works too. Note the date and the time you found the water.

Both the California Department of Insurance and the Texas Department of Insurance tell homeowners to document damage this way and to keep damaged items until the adjuster has seen them or says they can go. If something cannot wait, such as soaked carpet pad, photograph it, write down what it was, and keep a small piece.

4. Save your belongings

Once the photos are done, move what you can out of the water's reach, starting with what cannot be replaced: photographs, documents, artwork, family items. Then electronics, which should stay unplugged and switched off until someone has checked them. Lift curtains and bedskirts off the floor, pull area rugs out to dry, and put aluminum foil, plastic lids or wood blocks under the legs of furniture that has to stay, so stain and rust do not transfer into wet carpet.

Wet papers and photos are a special case. Separating them before they dry stuck together helps; if there are too many to handle, putting them in sealed bags in a freezer can stop further harm until they can be dried properly.

5. Start removing water and drying

Water extracted as liquid is far easier to deal with than water that has to evaporate. A wet-dry vacuum pulls water from hard floors and from the surface of carpet; towels and mops handle the rest. Open windows if the air outside is drier than inside, run the air conditioning to pull moisture from the air, and run fans aimed across the wet floor, not at the walls, where they can push moisture up.

Household equipment has limits. It dries surfaces, while the water that soaked into drywall, insulation, baseboards and subfloor can stay for days. A restoration crew measures those materials with moisture meters, opens walls where water is trapped, and runs air movers and commercial dehumidifiers until readings reach a dry target. That measured drying is what our water damage restoration page describes in detail.

A practical note on bleach: the EPA does not recommend bleach as a routine part of mold cleanup, and warns never to mix it with cleaners that contain ammonia. On a fresh water leak, drying matters far more than any spray.

6. Report the loss and keep receipts

Call your insurer or agent and report the loss, even if you are not sure the damage is covered; most policies ask for prompt notice. Write down the claim number and the adjuster's name, and keep a short diary of every call, as the California Department of Insurance suggests. Make only temporary repairs while you wait, such as stopping the leak, removing water and covering an opening, and keep every receipt: towels, a rented wet vacuum, a plumber's emergency visit. The Texas Department of Insurance points out that permanent repairs made before the insurer has seen the damage can put a claim at risk.

Once restoration starts, we document the loss for the claim with photographs, moisture readings and line-item estimates in the industry's standard format, described on our insurance claim documentation page. Your insurer decides what the policy covers.

What not to do in the first day

• Do not use a household vacuum on water; only a wet-dry vacuum is built for it.
• Do not turn on ceiling lights or fans in rooms where water came through the ceiling.
• Do not throw out damaged belongings before they are photographed and listed.
• Do not paint over a water stain or close up a wet wall to make the room look normal.
• Do not wait for the adjuster before removing water; insurers expect reasonable steps to stop more damage.

When to call a restoration company

Small, clean spills caught quickly, such as a sink that overflowed onto tile, often dry with towels and a fan. Call for help when water reached carpet, drywall or cabinets; when it came through a ceiling; when it sat for more than a day; when it came from a sewer line or from outside; or when you notice a musty smell. If you are unsure how contaminated the water is, our article on water damage categories explains clean, gray and black water.

Sources: U.S. EPA, A Brief Guide to Mold, Moisture and Your Home and Flood Cleanup to Protect Indoor Air Quality; Ready.gov, Floods; California Department of Insurance, Residential Property Claims Guide; Texas Department of Insurance, Home insurance guide and Tips for filing a claim.