The water rises through the floor, your gut reaction is to grab a mop, and the first thing you do is start pushing it back. Hold on. That instinct in us is what hurts people. Flood water appears to be regular, clean-looking water, but it is carrying things you cannot see. It also over-lies threats you would never suspect existed.
This is why Restoration Logistics Centennial is the next place many homeowners will go after a flood crisis. The top half is only half of what needs to be done. The more difficult half, of course, is dealing with what the water transports safely before anyone in your household becomes ill or worse.
How Was Emergency Flood Cleanup Different from a Spill
Both a glass of spilled water and a flooded basement leave your floor wet, but that’s not the same problem. The cup just spilled harmless water, only pure and clean. Flood water rarely stays clean. Herein lies the important difference. Flood water travels over yards and streets and through storm drains, collecting whatever comes into contact with it. That could be sewage from a clogged line, fertilizer and road grime, and bacteria leaching into the soil. When it finally swallows your home, it’s become what the restoration trade refers to as black water, the rankest classification there is. That contamination is why emergency flood cleanup involves more than pumping out water and drying the floor.
That one fact is what changes the entire job. You cannot dry black water and forget about it. Areas it came into contact with must be washed and disinfected, and any materials that soaked through must be permanently removed. Mopping just moves the issue.
Why Centennial Homeowners Call Restoration Logistics Centennial
Centennial calls the South Metro area home, where the weather certainly does not help. Summer storms that spring up out of nowhere deliver more rain than the drains can handle. Spring snowmelt seeps into basements. Older sprinkler lines snap, and sewer cones clog after a hard night.
Each of those can fill a home quickly, and they cooperate when it suits them. You get a live person the first time you call; Restoration Logistics Centennial always answers 24/7 with technicians on-site in under an hour. Many team members know local homes, local soil, and how water typically moves through a Centennial basement.
Of course, speed is part of it, but understanding what they are walking into matters just as much. Your family is safer from a guest than he ever could be, because our crew treats every flood as contaminated until proven otherwise.
What Hides in Flood Water
When you think of flood water, you probably imagine dirty rainwater. And even that is often worse. The CDC can give you the lowdown on whether floodwater is sewage. Ingesting anything that comes into contact with it can give you illnesses like E. coli or Salmonella.
For most of us, that murky water contains numerous hazards at once:
- Sewage and the bacteria that travel with it
- Buried sharp glass or metal
- Chemicals and fuel were gathered on the outside.
- Mold spores are primed to flower on anything moistened.
None of that is apparent on the surface. All these settle inside, and you can almost see water pretentiously become nearly calm. That is how flood water deceives us and makes us forget ourselves, which is why gloves, boots, and cleaning are not optional.
Never Wade Into a Basement That is Flooded
This is a warning most people ignore, and it deserves plain speak. Flood water that you happen to be standing in conceals a genuine electrocution hazard.
The CDC is blunt here. Do not flip a power switch or pick up an electric tool while standing in water. An energized outlet or appliance can be concealed in water from a flooded basement due to the high water level. Until it was too late, you would never know. Add in those bacteria, and the jagged debris, and a hasty clean-up effort starts to seem like a genuine game of chance.
So the better option is to stay out and call. A trained crew with protective gear arrives, assesses electrical and contamination hazards before entering the home, and safely handles the water. But realistically, it’s the right call to make, not that you don’t feel like going overkill when in the heat of the moment.
Benefits of Getting a Professional Flood Cleanup
Afterward, with the crew taking charge, it literally follows a prescribed order, safety First. The water is drawn out by pumps and extractors. After that, out come the ruined materials, wet drywall, carpet, and insulation soaked in black water cannot be salvaged.
Then arrives a step that homeowners typically omit when they do it themselves. The crew sanitizes what stays, applying antimicrobial products to surfaces to kill bacteria and prevent mold from taking root. Moisture readings indicate when drying truly stops as desiccant dehumidifiers and air movers dry the structure.
From there, they coordinate what gets fixed and what is restored from the flood with Restoration Logistics Centennial, forcing out the smell that keeps a room smelling like whatever devastated it. The team also documents the damage for your insurance all along, which makes that side of the headache a little smaller, too.
Do Not Wait Until the Water is Going to Other Areas
But every hour a flood goes unaddressed, it becomes more dangerous and more costly to mitigate. The water encroaches further, the bacteria breed, and mold tags behind.
You do not have to figure it out yourself, and you definitely should not wade in on doing so. Contact Restoration Logistics Centennial at (303) 657-1400 at any hour of any day, and leave it to a crew familiar with flood water.
