Tips to Save Furniture After Water Damage

6/29/2021 (Permalink)

After serious water damage, it’s important to take whatever steps that you can to salvage your structure and contents before a professional restoration team like SERVPRO of The Southtowns can get there. Among other things, furniture is a major concern. Here’s how to salvage as much of your furniture as possible:

Tips to Save Your Furniture After Water Intrusion

While every situation is different, the following tips are good rules of thumb in an emergency.

• Act fast! When you’re dealing with water damage, it’s a race against time. The longer that your furniture is exposed to water, the more likely it is to be damaged beyond repair.
• Take lots of photos. Document every aspect of every piece of furniture, including hard-to-see areas like the back and the bottom. You never know what might make the difference to an insurance adjuster.
• If you can, move furniture to a dry area. If the furniture is too heavy to move, try to put down blocks, pads or foil under the legs to protect the floor. Don’t enter an area if it is unsafe to do so, however - no furniture is worth the risk.
• Upholstery can be tough, but can often be saved if the source of the water was clean. To the greatest extent possible, separate different fabrics and colors to prevent bleeding.
• Wood furniture is more resilient and can usually be cleaned - move it to a dry indoor area as soon as possible. If exposed to sunlight, the wood may warp or crack.
• If doors or drawers have become swollen due to water infiltration, don’t force them open. Wait for them to dry.

Of course, the best advice is to leave the restoration to the professionals. The best thing for most people is to move what they can, block/pad the rest, and call SERVPRO of The Southtowns for help at 716-646-6684.