If your house was affected by the floods, here is a list of things that should help you reclaim it from the devastation and turn it back into your home.
Pre-Clean Up Checklist
- Wear rubber gloves, a mask, and rubber shoes or slippers before you enter the house. Check for uprooted or loose trees around your house.
- Before you do anything, you should check for any kind of electrical damage and gas leak. Check all the electrical equipment you’ve left behind to search for any battery leak or wire damage of any sorts. Remove the fuse before you enter.
- Evaluate the condition of your roof. If there’s leakage or cracks, you might want to to get it checked before you enter.
- Be mindful of any insects and snakes around and inside the house.
- Discard all things, including bottles, utensils, household equipment, and metals that are contaminated. The ones that aren’t contaminated, wash them thoroughly and sterilize them using boiled water. If boiling is not an option, immerse the utensils in a bucket of water mixed with one tsp of chlorine bleach. Never mix chlorine bleach with ammonia.
- Replace all the rugs, carpets, bedsheets, and any cloth material that has been underwater for more than 12 hours. Unfortunately, you will also have to replace all the mattresses and cushioned furniture that’s been submerged underwater. However, plastic and solid wood furniture can be washed and reused.
- Replace anything that’s been severely damaged by the water.
- Dry everything under sunlight. There’s no better sterilizer than the Sun’s rays.
If you find snakes in your house, here is a list of people you can contact to get them removed safely.
Clean-Up
- Wash all the mud and dirt in your house. This process is time-consuming, but the only way to reclaim your house is by sweeping and wiping away all the dirt within the house. Use chlorine bleach to ward off any unwanted moulds and fungi.
- Open all the windows and doors of your house. Let the air cool your house down, drying everything inside in the process.
- Once the floors and walls are dried up, spray water with phosphate-free, chlorine bleach mixed in it to kill off all the existing germs. It acts as a disinfectant to kill fungi.
- You can speed up the drying process by switching on the fans.
- If you plan on cooking or taking a bath, use an exhaust fan to prevent moisture retention on the walls.
It is going to be hard. But with time and effort, you will turn the house back into your home. That’s what you should look forward to. Stay strong.
