Flood damage accounts for huge monetary loss across the country every year.

Floods are particularly devastating because there is little that can be done to safe guard your house beforehand. So what happens after the water recedes? Recovery and cleanup.

Damage can range from some wet carpet and furniture to the house being left structurally unsound. Floods can undermine foundations and shift walls.

Most of this type of extreme damage is fairly obvious and often leads to the house being deemed a total loss. Most homeowners insurance does not cover damage caused by floods so, more often than not, the homeowner is left to clean up himself or to pay a contractor to clean and repair the house.

If you are going to hire a contractor for the clean up, it is advisable to get estimates from several contractors. Make sure the contractors have the required workers compensation insurance as well as general liability coverage. Check the references of the contractor. You can also ask to be listed as additionally insured on the contractor’s policy.

If your house did not receive structural damage, it usually can be  saved.

No matter who is going to perform the recovery, the structure has to be made safe. All the utilities need to be turned off outside the house.

The first step in clean up is to remove anything that got wet.

Furniture, carpet, sheetrock, insulation, wood molding, wood flooring and cabinets all have to be removed. The affected areas must be stripped to the studs and down to the concrete. This will allow the house to start drying out. Drying the house is very important, dehumidifiers are generally brought in to speed the process which can take several weeks. Mold is a huge concern and usually follows a flood. Numerous companies specialize in mold abatement and should be consulted before the remodel begins.

Once the house has been cleaned and has dried and the proper steps to retard the growth of mold have been taken, the remodel can commence and your life will soon return to some semblance of normalcy.