Step 1: Check for electrical danger
Water and electricity are the real emergency. If water is touching outlets, power strips, floor lamps, the furnace or the water heater, keep out of that area. You can shut off the breakers for wet rooms if the panel is somewhere dry. If the panel is in the flooded basement, leave it alone and tell the crew when you call.
Look up before you walk in, too. A ceiling that sags or has a dark bulge is holding water and can drop.
Step 2: Stop the water at the source
- Pipe, water heater or appliance leak: close the main shutoff valve. In most Lee's Summit houses with a basement, it is on the foundation wall closest to the street, near where the water line comes in. Turn the handle clockwise until it stops, or turn a lever handle a quarter turn.
- Toilet or sink: close the small valve on the supply line under or behind the fixture.
- Sewage from a floor drain: stop using every drain in the house. Each flush or shower can push more up.
- Storm water or a dead sump: check whether the sump pump is unplugged or tripped its outlet, and clear leaves off any window well covers you can safely reach.
Step 3: Call for help
Get a water damage crew on the way before you start cleaning. The equipment they bring removes water much faster than towels and a shop vac, and the clock is running on your drywall and subfloor. Call us and we will connect you with a local company.
Step 4: Take photos and video
Walk through every wet room with your phone before you move anything. Take wide shots of each room, close-ups of the water line on walls, the source of the leak and damaged belongings. Insurance adjusters ask for these first, and you can't recreate them after cleanup starts.
Step 5: Move what you can
- Carry rugs, electronics, paperwork, photos and keepsakes to a dry floor.
- Slide foil, plastic lids or wood blocks under furniture legs on wet carpet.
- Pin up curtains and bed skirts that touch the floor.
- Close up the house in humid summer weather. Open windows in a Missouri July bring in more moisture than they let out.
Step 6: Skip these
- Don't use a regular household vacuum on water.
- Don't wade through sewage or storm water in sneakers.
- Don't crank the heat to dry things out. Heat without dehumidifiers pushes moisture into rooms that were dry.
- Don't throw away damaged items before you photograph them or the adjuster sees them.
Step 7: Start the insurance claim
Call your insurer and write down the claim number. You don't need to wait for an adjuster before water removal starts. Policies expect you to take reasonable steps to keep the damage from growing, and the restoration company can document everything as it works. Our Missouri insurance guide covers what tends to be covered.
Related help in Lee's Summit
- Emergency water removal: Pumps and extractors to pull standing water out of floors, carpet and pad.
- Basement flood cleanup: Water out of finished and unfinished basements, with drying and tear-out where needed.
- Burst pipe cleanup: Water removal and drying after a frozen or failed pipe floods a room.