The First 24 Hours

Water damage outcomes are mostly decided on day one. This is the whole day, in order — print it, or just do the next step on the list.

Minutes 0–10: stop and make safe

1. Stop the water. Fixture angle stop if it's one fixture; house main or street-side meter valve if you can't tell. If you don't know where your main is, finding it today — before an emergency — is the highest-value five minutes in this guide.
2. Electricity next. Breakers off for any wet rooms. Never handle the panel standing in water.
3. People and pets out of the wet zone — especially if there's any chance the water is from a drain, sewer, or outdoors (that's contaminated water; treat it as hazardous).

Hour 1: document, then protect

• Video walk-through of every affected room, then photos: the source, the waterline, damaged items, serial plates on failed appliances. Keep the failed part (the burst hose, the split fitting) — adjusters love physical evidence.
• Move electronics, documents, and furniture out of wet areas; foil or blocks under what you can't move.
• Lift curtains and bedskirts clear of wet floors; pull area rugs off wet carpet or tile.

Hours 1–3: get help moving

• Call for professional extraction and drying. Same-day response is standard for active water losses. While you wait: towels, mop, wet/dry vac — surface removal genuinely helps, it just doesn't finish the job (why).
• Report the insurance claim — or at minimum, photograph everything first and report within the day. Tell them mitigation is starting; your policy expects it (the mitigation duty).
• If the source needs a plumber (slab leak, failed main), that call runs in parallel with restoration, not instead of it.

Hours 3–24: fight the moisture

• Run AC and fans; in our climate, moving dry air is your ally. Skip fans if the water is contaminated (they spread bioaerosols) — ventilate with windows instead.
• Wet carpet pad: expect it to be removed. Wet cardboard boxes: unpack and discard the box. Both hold water for days.
• Open closet and cabinet doors in affected rooms; pull furniture away from wet walls so air reaches them.
• Start a claim folder: photos, the video, receipts for anything you buy (fans, tarps), names and times of everyone you call.