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How To Deal With A Flooded Bathroom

How To Deal With A Flooded Bathroom

Having any part of your home flood can be an incredibly stressful and worrying time, and a flooded bathroom is no exception. Your personal belongings can be ruined, your home’s infrastructure can be damaged, and the expense can be crippling.

Annual flood damage costs to the economy often exceed £1 billion across England, leaving many families in devastation. However, there are specific actions and steps you can take to avoid long-lasting damage and prevent future floods within your home.

Call A Professional To Save Your Flooded Bathroom

You’ll want to begin clearing up the visible damage straight away, but don’t just grab a mop!

If you want to know what to do if your bathroom floods, having a professional flood damage expert guide you through the process is always recommended. Expertise is necessary if you want to find the cause of the flooded bathroom, along with avoiding causing further damage.

By having an experienced professional handle your flooded bathroom, they’ll be able to bring you the best end result. By following the most efficient procedures, cleaning up the excess water and finding the cause of the flooding problem, your bathroom will be good as new.

What To Do If Your Bathroom Floods

1. Identify The Leak And Turn Off The Water

It can be difficult to isolate the leak amidst the panic of a flooded bathroom. However, by confirming there is a water leak in the bathroom, such as a burst pipe or an overflowing drain, you can then shut off the valve to the main water spigot in your home.

If you have the means of isolating your bathroom’s water supply, simply turn that off. This will stop the water flow, and you avoid further excess water flooding your bathroom.

For further information on identifying the source, please check out our other article: How to Find a Water Leak in Your Home.

2. Remove Any Potential Hazards And Turn Off Electricity

Securing your home is the next step. You might be tempted to rush your expensive products and fancy bath mat out of the room, but removing any potential hazards and turning off the electricity is much more important.

If any electrical components have been exposed to water, turn off the electricity in your bathroom. You should also take note of any easily collapsible items that could cause damage or hurt you in the clean-up process.

These dangers are why it is always recommended to allow a professional to handle the flooded bathroom.

3. Clear Personal Possessions

Once the immediate dangers have been remedied, any personal possessions within the bathroom should be moved to a safe place. Don’t forget things such as important prescriptions, medical supplies and bathroom fittings such as your shower curtain and small units.

4. Remove Standing Water

It can be tempting to grab a bucket and a mop to tackle your flooded bathroom to remove standing water. But, before you can start cleaning, you should get the best tools for the job.

Of course, you can use anything you can get your hands on. Old sheets and towels or a mop will do the trick, but it can take much longer. By hiring a professional water damage clean-up team instead, you’ll be able to benefit from their equipment, such as a wet/dry vacuum cleaner.

These types of equipment are much more thorough and will be less likely to leave patches of water behind, reducing the chance of mould developing in your bathroom after the clean-up.

5. Put In A Temporary Fix

Once the first few steps have been completed, it’s time to begin finding the cause of the bathroom flood.

If you can locate the issue, put in a temporary solution to tide your bathroom over before the professionals can permanently remove the risk of flooding. For example, if a seal has broken along a pipe, fixture or fitting, apply some waterproof tape or an equivalent.

6. Speak To Your Insurers

The next step is to speak to your insurers to update them on the bathroom flood and any damage caused. Ensure you have taken pictures and videos and collate the evidence, so any money you’re entitled to is sent to you as quickly as possible.

7. Remove Soft Or Removable Furnishings

You don’t want any water lingering around the bathroom, so to air it out properly, remove all soft furnishings and anything that doesn’t have to stay in the bathroom.

This could be towels, robes, washing baskets etc.

8. Strip Damaged Walls And Structures

At Rainbow Restoration, we highly recommend hiring a professional team to take care of this next step.

Our team of highly trained experts know how to safely strip any damaged walls and structures from your flooded bathroom. Any permeable flooring in the room will need to be replaced, however, there could be damage underneath that will need to be addressed too.

All damaged plasterboard and wall should also be addressed to avoid any lingering moisture turning into mould. Having this done professionally is key to avoiding permanent damage to your home’s infrastructure.

9. Hire A Dehumidifier And Call A Professional

Removing all traces of excess moisture from your bathroom is absolutely essential if you are to avoid any future issues. Trapped moisture can easily turn into mould, causing an expensive and drawn out issue that can be avoided.

Allowing a professional to take control and hiring a dehumidifier to ensure all moisture has been removed is the best way to guarantee your bathroom is returned back to normal after a flood.

How To Prevent A Bathroom From Flooding

Anyone can flood a bathroom. All it takes is a lapse in memory and a bathtub overflows or a toilet becomes clogged and accidentally flushed. However, pipework can become damaged, fixtures can malfunction and even the most solid of systems can experience a fault that can leave your bathroom flooded.

So to prevent a bathroom from flooding, you should keep a close eye on the following things:

1. Toilets

Toilets can easily become clogged, so maintain them properly and keep them clean to avoid a blocked toilet trap or backed-up sewer.

Flooded bathroom toilet.

2. Pipes

Pipes can collect plenty of dirt, hair and sediment from the bath, sink and toilet water travelling through them. By regularly cleaning your pipes with suitable products, you can avoid a clog and backup.

Person unblocking bathroom drain.

3. Malfunctions

Pipe malfunctions can happen easily, due to weather changes leading to frozen burst pipes, supply lines that deteriorate over time and ruptures caused by excess water pressure, so keep an eye on them and maintain them properly.

Frozen Pipes.

4. Drains and sewers

Sewer drains can experience backups due to external issues such as storms and uprooted trees, whilst overflow drain fails can result in tubs and showers leaking water, so regular checks are highly recommended.

Blocked storm drain.

Stay Safe With Rainbow Restoration’s Water Damage Restoration Team

With decades of experience handling flooded homes and cleaning up water damage, Rainbow Restoration’s expert team have perfected their processes to provide quick and reliable results – and long term solutions.

Supporting homeowners through these stressful experiences, Rainbow Restoration always works to provide you with a service that will restore your home back to its previous condition, so you can relax and have peace of mind.

Get In Touch With Rainbow Restoration For Your PAT Test!

Our team of experts understand how important repairing your flooded bathroom and ensuring your safety is, so get in touch to enlist their help in preventing any further damage, and to ensure your electricals are fit for purpose following a flood.

Published: 20 Feb 2023