If you've recently purchased a home with significant flood damage and plan to fix it up and rent it out to tenants, you may be excited about the investment opportunity that awaits you. However, there can often be more to water damage than meets the eye, and you could quickly find that you've bitten off more than you can chew. Read on to learn more about what you'll need to prepare for when renovating or fixing up a home that's been damaged in a flood as well as your best disposal options when it comes to the cleanup process.
What should you be prepared for when renovating a flood-damaged home?
Flood damage is more than just water damage — floodwaters can contain everything from toxic heavy metals from submerged car batteries to raw sewage and pathogens from backed up pipes. Therefore, it's important to identify anything you suspect may have come into contact with floodwaters, even items that may otherwise appear salvageable, and mark them for replacement.
You'll also want to be mindful of any electrical wires that have been exposed to floodwater, as the trace metals and other particles often present in floodwater can cause corrosion or other issues with the electrical system, increasing your fire risk later. Because this kind of damage is often "invisible," it's important to look for other signs of a high-water mark so you can be confident that your remaining electrical components were left undamaged.
Finally, you'll want to be especially wary of mold growth. It's much easier to avoid mold if you're able to quickly access the wet areas and dry them with heat or an industrial fan; unfortunately, once mold spores have begun to grow and reproduce, they're much harder to tackle.
How can you dispose of the toxic waste generated by flood cleanup?
While the term "toxic waste" can bring to mind images of cartoonish barrels radiating beams of green light, household toxic waste is far less glamorous — corroded batteries, non-functional appliances, and sometimes even rotted drywall or asbestos-containing floor or ceiling tiles. And when it comes to flood damage, even non-toxic household items may require special disposal methods due to the potential for contamination.
Even if you're planning to do the demolition work yourself to save money, it's worthwhile to enlist the help of a hazardous waste disposal company to haul away the waste you're going to generate. This can ensure that your waste is being disposed of safely and legally.
Share7 November 2016
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