Because most of your home's interior is not waterproof, water damaged items may be numerous and wide-ranging after indoor flooding from any cause. The source of the water is an important determinant, as well as the elapsed time before professional water damage recovery begins. Here's a general overview of typical water damaged items and how they may be repaired—or not.
Carpets and rugs. If water is from a clean source, water damage recovery professionals may use extractors to remove water and dry carpets and rugs. However, in many cases, the padding beneath carpet requires replacement and cannot be repaired. If water is contaminated drying and repair of wet carpets may not be feasible or worth the cost.
Drywall. In some instances, drywall on walls can be successfully dried. However, several factors such as type of water damage, length of time drywall has remained wet, and construction materials behind drywall will impact the likelihood of drywall walls needing to be removed, or dried in place. Affected drywall in ceiling and/or walls are water damaged items that can be repaired by cutting out small segments and replacing with new material. However, because drywall is usually readily replaceable, larger segments affected by water damage should be treated by removal and replacement with new material.
Tile and flooring. Repairing versus replacing most flooring depends largely on whether water has penetrated into the subfloor. Wet wooden subflooring swells and dislodges flooring materials. It's also subject to rotting and mold. Therefore tile and flooring need to be removed and subflooring professionally dried. Certain flooring types may be reinstalled after subfloor drying, others require replacement.
Furniture. Wet furniture should be removed from the house. Commercial wood cleaning products can be used to clean wooden furniture and items slowly dried, away from sunlight. Water damaged items that are upholstered or include cushions are less likely to be economically salvaged, depending on the origin of the water and elapsed time since items were wet.
Appliances. If flooding was only a few inches, most major appliances can be saved. However, all should be checked before turning the units on. If water was deep enough to enter internal spaces in the unit and/or contact controls, motors, electrical circuitry, or gas valves or burners, these water damaged items should be replaced.
