The sight of standing water in your kitchen is enough to send even the calmest homeowner into a panic. Whether it was from a malfunctioning appliance, a broken pipe, or someone walked away from the sink while it was running, a flooded kitchen has the potential to lead to serious problems if not cared for quickly.
So what should you do if you walk in to do the dishes only to find a bigger mess than you anticipated?
How to Dry Out a Flooded Kitchen
- Turn off the power and water to the area. Before you can start cleaning up the mess you need to stop the leak at its source and make sure your kitchen is safe from electrical hazards. Assuming your leak isn’t coming from outside, you’ll want to shut off the water pipes running into your kitchen.
- Move furniture and other items on your floor to a dry area. Ink from any papers or magazines allowed to stay wet can stain the surface they sit on, so move these immediately.
- Remove as much water as possible with a mop, towels, or a wet/dry shop vacuum.
- Open any cabinets and drawers that got wet.
- Encourage air circulation by turning on fans and either opening windows (if it is cool outside) or running the air conditioning. **Keep power cords away from standing water and never run a ceiling fan whose electrical box might be wet.**
After you’ve done everything you can to get your kitchen as dry as possible, take plenty of pictures to show your insurance company. Contacting a plumber or appliance repairman to fix the source of the problem is the next step, and after that you will want to find a reputable kitchen remodeler to assess and repair any damage caused by the flooding.
If you live in the central coastal California area and are facing the aftermath of a flooded kitchen, we’re here to help! We have extensive experience with water damage restoration. Give us a call today so we can get your kitchen back in working order.
