The first hour
If water is near outlets, the panel, or a fallen ceiling, get people out of that room. Shut the main water valve if you can reach it from a dry floor. If the leak is one toilet or one heater and that valve still works, shut that one. Do not wade. Do not flip breakers while you are standing wet. If you smell gas or you cannot find the shutoff, leave and call for help.
Open a faucet after the main is off so the lines can drain. If a pipe is frozen and has not split, an open faucet gives the thaw somewhere to go. Do not use a torch. A hair dryer on a reachable frozen spot, kept out of the water, is enough. Most Houston “frozen pipe” calls are already a burst by the time someone notices the ceiling. Treat the water you can see as the emergency.
- People and pets out of the wet room if power is involved.
- Shut the supply.
- Do not use a flame on a frozen pipe.
- Call (713) 909-0034 if the water is in the building, not just on a tile floor.
The next few hours: pictures, then movement
Photograph the source, the ceilings, the floors, and the bottoms of the cabinets. A short note of which room is as useful as another twenty blurry shots. If you can use the photo log on this site, it keeps the rooms in order. Then move what you can save to a dry room. Lift drapes. Get electronics up. Leave soaked drywall and flooring until they are documented if you plan to file.
Call your insurer if the loss was sudden and you want a claim. Tell them what failed: a supply line, a heater, a dishwasher, a toilet, a roof, or water that rose from outside. Those are different. We are not public adjusters. We will not pick a nicer name for the water. You can call us the same day to start drying. Waiting a weekend because you hope the adjuster comes first is how a wet baseboard becomes a wet wall.
By the end of the day
Standing water should be out. Wet carpet pad should be out if it is soaked. The air should be moving, and a dehumidifier should be pulling moisture out of that air if the walls or the slab got wet. Windows open in July do not do this job. The outdoor air is wet. Set the air conditioning to run. Close the rooms that stayed dry so you are not trying to dry the whole house for one bath.
On a slab in Oak Forest, Cypress, or Friendswood, the water is in the concrete and the drywall base. On a pier-and-beam house in Montrose or Garden Oaks, check the crawlspace or have us check it. A dry living room over a wet joist bay is a common miss. In a two-story Kingwood or Spring house, look up. Attic water lands in the ceiling. The stain grows for a day after the valve is shut because the insulation is still draining.
Overnight
Leave the drying equipment running. Do not turn it off because it is loud. Check that drains from dehumidifiers are actually going into a sink or outside, not back onto the floor. If a ceiling is still dripping, the source is not done. A tarp on an open roof belongs in this same night if the water came from above. Board a broken window so the next rain does not join the first leak.
Sleep somewhere dry. A wet room with open walls is not a bedroom. If the power is uncertain, do not spend the night guessing at the panel. Write down what you shut off, what you moved, and who you called. That note is worth more tomorrow than you think. Keep receipts for towels, plywood, and the dumpster if you already needed one.
The next morning
Walk the house in daylight. New stains, a soft seam in the floor, and a musty closet are the edges of the water you already know about. Pull a toe kick only if you are ready to see the cabinet bottom, and photograph it. Do not start a kitchen remodel today. Do not buy flooring today. Dry first. If an adjuster is coming, be there. Show the photos. Show what you already removed and why.
We meter the walls and the floors and we tell you what has to come out. Some drywall can dry in place. Some cannot. Insulation that held flood water comes out. Insulation that got a cup of clean water might be a smaller cut. The difference is the visit, not a rule shouted from the sidewalk. Call (713) 909-0034 if you have not already. Family-owned in Houston since 1993.
What not to spend the first day on
Do not shop for cabinets. Do not paint a stain. Do not run the HVAC with a soaked filter and hope. Do not sign a contract you have not read because someone knocked and said the truck was on the street. You can hire a crew today. You should know that we work for you. We are not public adjusters. Your insurer still decides the claim. Ask what will be dried, what will be removed, and what the next step costs.
Meyerland floods, Kingwood attics, and a Tomball supply line all deserve the same first day: safety, shutoff, photos, drying. The rebuild is day two or week two. The blog can wait. The wet wall cannot. If you want the longer checklist after the emergency is stable, the water-damage guide on this site sits next to this one on purpose.
Questions
Good to know.
Should I wait for the adjuster before I dry anything?
Do not wait to stop more damage. Photograph first, then dry. Policies commonly expect you to protect the property. Ask your insurer how they want notice given. A wet wall does not pause for a calendar.
Are household fans enough?
For a small splash on hard flooring you caught immediately, maybe. For wet drywall, insulation, carpet pad, or a slab that took on water, no. Houston humidity puts the moisture back if you only blow air around.
What do I photograph?
The source if you can see it, the path, and each wet room. Wide shots and close shots. Do it before you throw flooring or cabinets away.
Who pays?
Your insurer, if the policy covers it. We are not public adjusters. We dry and repair what you hire. A sudden pipe break and rising flood water are often different coverages. Say which one happened.