Fire and floods are two of the most damaging incidents that can affect your home or property, with the effects leaving homeowners devastated.
Keeping your family home as safe as possible is at the top of everyone’s priority list, and in this post, we look at both fire and flood damage prevention tips that you can implement to help keep businesses running and homes secure.
Tips to prevent fire and flood
Water damage to a property is the most common natural disaster that commercial and residential properties can suffer.
Water damage occurs due to various reasons, for example, construction and building work can disrupt the flow of water and, unfortunately, increase flooding potential.
And those beyond our control, such as heavy rain, flash floods, dam failures, tidal storm surges, snow melts, and more.
In fact, reports show that commercial flood damage in the UK is on the rise, with global warming cited as the number one reason. However, we can use preventative tactics to reduce the likelihood of floods and water damage occurring.
Preventative measures to avoid water damage
The tips below will help you to prepare and recover quickly from flood damage.
- Check out your property’s flood zone listing, and if the risk is high, always have an adequate supply of sandbags in hand.
- Keep your gutters clear from any debris or leaves that can block and obstruct water flow, especially in the autumn months.
- Check drainage around your property, ensuring that it is clear and sufficient.
- Electrical sockets within the property should ideally be raised at least 1.5m above the floor level so flood water can’t reach them.
- Maintain and regularly service equipment such as hot water tanks, dishwashers, washing machine hoses, fridge freezers, etc. – ultimately check anything that uses water!
- Insulate all exterior pipes during the winter months to prevent them from freezing and potentially bursting.
- If you are away from home, whether this is on holiday or a work trip, ideally, you should shut your water off completely.
- Please, please don’t pour grease down sinks! Unfortunately, it can harden and set in your pipes, cracking and causing considerable damage.
- Keep an eye on your water bill. If there’s an unexpected jump or rise in your bill, make sure to check all your appliances for potential leaks.
- Check non-return valves from your drains and outlet pipes. And know how to shut down your utilities in an emergency.
- Keep all your important documents in a safe place and out of harm’s way.
- Sign up for local community groups and local flood alerts.
- Throw away all food that has come into contact with floodwaters as it is not always known if the water is clean or sewer water, so we’d always advise you to stay on the side of caution.
Fire damage
Fire and, most certainly, smoke damage can be more destructive than water damage, causing permanent damage if areas aren’t restored and repaired immediately.
Preventative measures to prevent fire damage
- Install approved smoke alarms and regularly check these are working.
- Include a fire extinguisher handy in cupboards or kitchen cabinets. (Fire extinguishers are a legal requirement in commercial properties).
- Regularly clean fireplaces, chimneys, furnaces, and heating systems.
- Check fuse boxes, extension leads, and circuits – and make sure not to overload these!
- Be mindful of candles. Items like this should never be left unattended and should be distinguished before you go to bed!
- If you have an open fire, please ensure you have a metal gate of some sort in place around the fire to catch any flying debris.
- Keep clothes and material away from naked flames.
- Make sure all cigarette stubs are put out properly and don’t smoke in bed.
- Communicate with everyone in the house and commercial premise about what to do in the event of a fire. Plan and practice your evacuation route.
- Store all lighters/matches out of the reach of children.
Flood damage restoration
If the worst does happen, don’t panic.
It’s important to remember not to return to any property until it is safe to do so. Once inside, check all damage and swiftly report all losses to your insurance company.
If you can’t stay in your property after a fire or flood, make sure all your windows and doors are closed to prevent opportunists from gaining access.
Contact specialist contractors (like the team at Clear Choice) if you have any windows or doors needing boarding up.
Don’t reconnect any gas, electric, or water yourself; contact the supply companies to arrange reconnection.
Contact the cleaning specialists at Clear Choice who can arrange to be with you in no time, providing you with reliable and quality fire and flood restoration service.
Offering water extraction, sewage clean up, drying, cleaning, odour neutralisation, and much more! We aim to get your property back to normal in no time, decontaminating the premises to improve air quality.
Fire and flood restoration companies
Flood damage repair starts by drying the property asap to prevent mould.
At Clear Choice, we can reduce secondary damage by carrying out decontamination, air scrubbing, lowering humidity levels, and applying specialist surface treatments to prevent any further damage from occurring.
When it comes to fire damage, we can remove soot, repair wallpaper, wash and scrub any pieces of equipment and utensils that have been damaged, remove any odours, clean kitchens and all bathroom fittings and fixtures as required.
We can help remove as much of the water as possible by mopping or using a wet vacuum for water damage.
Also helping with drying rugs, cleaning, and preserving carpets, removing all mildew, opening up any drawers and cupboards, etc. to air dry, and check for condensation.
Fire and flood damage can be devastating, call us today and let us help to get your property like new in no time.
