Nobody is at their most rational standing in two inches of water at 3am. That is precisely why it helps to have read this before it happens: the sequence below is the one our dispatchers walk callers through every night, and following it in order routinely saves thousands of dollars in avoidable secondary damage.
Minutes 0–5: make people safe
Water and electricity share a building, and after a loss they are frequently sharing a room. Before anything else, get everyone away from standing water that is anywhere near outlets, extension cords, appliances or a submerged panel.
- Do not walk into standing water in a room with energized outlets at or below water level.
- If the breaker panel is dry and safely accessible, kill power to the affected circuits.
- If the panel is wet or in the flooded area, do not touch it — call your utility.
- Watch for ceilings that are sagging or holding water. A saturated ceiling can collapse without warning.
- Assume any floodwater from outside is contaminated and keep children and pets clear.
Minutes 5–15: stop the source
Everything else is pointless while water is still arriving. Find and stop the source, and if you cannot identify it, shut off the main supply anyway — you can always turn it back on.
- 1.Locate your main water shut-off. In Texas slab homes it is usually near the front hose bib, in the garage, or at the street meter box.
- 2.Turn it clockwise until it stops. Then open a low faucet to relieve pressure in the lines.
- 3.For a water heater, close the cold inlet valve on top of the tank and cut power or gas to the unit.
- 4.For an appliance leak, use the local shut-off behind or beneath the unit.
- 5.For a roof leak, place containers under the drip and, if you can do it safely from inside, punch a small relief hole in a bulging ceiling to let trapped water drain in one controlled place.
Minutes 15–30: document before you touch anything
This is the step homeowners skip and adjusters penalize. Your claim will be evaluated on evidence, and the only person who can capture pre-mitigation evidence is you, in the next fifteen minutes.
- Photograph every affected room from all four corners before moving anything.
- Take video with narration — say the date, the room, and what you are seeing.
- Photograph the source of the loss itself, including the failed component.
- Capture serial numbers and model plates on damaged appliances.
- Photograph damaged contents individually, not just in a pile.
- Keep the failed part. A burst hose or split valve is physical evidence of a sudden and accidental loss.
Minutes 30–45: make the calls
Call a restoration contractor first or at the same time as your insurer. Your policy obligates you to mitigate further damage promptly, so starting mitigation protects the claim rather than jeopardizing it. Our dispatch line is (281) 937-8792 and it is answered by a person, at any hour.
When you call your carrier, have your policy number, the time you discovered the loss, the apparent cause, and the rooms affected. Ask specifically whether your policy includes additional living expenses, and whether you have a water backup endorsement if the source was a drain.
Minutes 45–60: limited safe mitigation
There are a few genuinely useful things you can do while waiting for the crew — and a few that will make things measurably worse.
| Do this | Not this |
|---|---|
| Move furniture off wet carpet, or put foil under the legs | Don't use a household vacuum on water |
| Lift curtains and drapes clear of wet floors | Don't lift wet carpet yourself |
| Remove books, paper and textiles from the floor | Don't run ceiling fans under a wet ceiling |
| Open windows only if outdoor humidity is lower | Don't use the HVAC after a sewage or fire event |
| Mop or blot standing water on hard floors | Don't throw damaged items away before documenting |
The four mistakes that cost the most money
- 1.Waiting until morning. A loss discovered at midnight and addressed at 9am has had nine hours to wick into wall cavities and subfloor — that is the whole margin between drying and demolition.
- 2.Drying it yourself with box fans. Fans move air but remove no moisture from it. Without dehumidification you simply relocate the water elsewhere in the structure.
- 3.Throwing damaged items away. Every item disposed of before documentation is an item your adjuster cannot reimburse.
- 4.Accepting a scope with no cavity drying. If the estimate has no line item for wall cavity or subfloor drying on a loss that clearly reached them, the walls are going to be closed up wet.
What happens when we arrive
The crew confirms the source is off, does a thermal and moisture survey to map every wet material including the ones that still look dry, sets extraction equipment, and installs a sized drying system. You get baseline readings the same day and a daily log after that. Most single-room losses are dry in three to five days.
If you are dealing with an active loss right now, stop reading and call (281) 937-8792. Everything else in this guide can wait until the water is off and a crew is on the way.