What to Do After Water Damage: Your First Hour

The short answer

What to do after water damage, in order

The first hour decides most of the bill. Clean water caught early can usually be extracted and dried in place. The same water left overnight wicks up walls, soaks the pad under carpet and spreads under baseboards and cabinets.

This checklist is written for the slab homes common in DeSoto and nearby cities, where water spreads sideways across the floor rather than draining into a basement.

Step 1: Stop the water

If the leak is at a toilet, sink, washer or water heater, close the small valve on the supply line behind or under it. If you cannot find it, or a pipe has split in a wall or ceiling, close the main shut off for the house.

Most North Texas slab homes have a house valve where the line enters near the foundation or garage, plus a city valve inside the meter box near the street. Our guide on finding your main water shut off valve shows where to look.

Step 2: Make the rooms safe

Water and electricity are the real danger. If water is near outlets, power strips or appliances, switch off those circuits at the breaker panel, but only if the panel is in a dry area and you are standing on dry ground. If not, stay out and tell the crew when you call.

Look up before you walk in. A ceiling that sags or bulges is holding water and can come down. Keep children and pets away from dirty water from drains, toilets or storm runoff.

Step 3: Document everything

Before you move or throw anything away, take wide photos of each room, close photos of the water line on walls and damaged items, and a short video walking through the house. Photograph the source too, such as the burst line or failed water heater.

Keep damaged items if you can, or at least photograph them with a tape measure for scale. Write down when you found the water and what you did. Insurers expect you to take reasonable steps to limit damage, and this record shows you did.

Step 4: Protect what you can

• Lift furniture legs onto foil, plastic lids or wood blocks to stop staining.
• Move rugs, electronics, papers and photos to a dry room.
• Pin up curtains and furniture skirts off wet floors.
• Open interior doors and run the AC to start pulling moisture from the air.

Do not use a household vacuum on water, and do not run fans on sewage or storm water, which can spread contaminants.

Step 5: Call for extraction

Tell the dispatcher four things: the source of the water, how many rooms are wet, what the floors are (carpet, tile, laminate, wood) and whether the water is clean or dirty. That decides the crew size and equipment.

On arrival, a crew should measure moisture, extract standing water with truck or portable extractors, remove anything that cannot be saved and set air movers and dehumidifiers. See structural drying for what happens over the next few days.

What not to do after water damage

• Do not wait to see if it dries on its own. Carpet pad and drywall hold water for days.
• Do not tear out walls or flooring before photos and an adjuster or crew has seen the damage.
• Do not use heaters to dry a house quickly. Heat without dehumidification can warp wood and spread moisture.
• Do not paint over or patch water stains until moisture readings say the material is dry.

Written for homeowners and renters in DeSoto, TX and nearby cities. This guide is general information, not legal, insurance or engineering advice. See our editorial policy for how guides are researched and reviewed.