HomeHousehold repairs
Letting your home dry out
This is a specialist operation which should be discussed with your insurance company and the experts that they appoint.Here are some helpful hints and tips for repairing your home after it has been flooded:
- Make sure that you have removed any vent or air-brick covers.
- Good ventilation is essential, keep windows and doors open on dry days.
- Be aware that drying out can take weeks, sometimes months to complete.
- A brick will dry out at a rate of approximately an inch a month, so take care to ensure your house is secure if you have to leave it for a long period of time. Redecorating or repairs cannot take place until this is complete.
- After six months check timber floors for any evidence of rot or shrinkage. Any necessary repair work can then be made.
- Fitted units, particularly in kitchens, which are made of chipboard may not dry out well and will become damaged by water. It is difficult to clean them and therefore they may have to be eventually replaced.
- Eventually other necessary works may have been identified by your insurers or builders. These may be carried out after the property has substantially dried out.
- If plaster walls and partitions have been affected badly and do not dry out in a sound condition the plaster and boards affected will have to be removed, walls dried out and re-plastered. Otherwise redecoration of sound walls is all that will be necessary.
