To remodel is to change the form or structure of something, especially a building. A flood may have happened because of bursting pipes, excessive rainfall, a damaged dam, or a storm. You may not be able to use the kitchen until you renovate it to resume its normal appearance or become even better. It’s advisable to get a professional contractor to remodel the kitchen.
Are there any crucial factors to consider before getting on with the work of remodeling your kitchen? Do you get to benefit from renovating the kitchen? Read on to find out. You can check out resources like ServPro to have an idea of their services.
Essential Emergency And Safety Tips During A Flood
It is almost inevitable. One day or another, there will come the point in time when your kitchen will be affected by the flood, and you’ll have no choice but to redesign your kitchen. It is depressing, nasty, and concerning to see how quickly water can take over the things you own. It is not easy coping with that kind of situation, especially when you’ve just had a renovation done. Thus, it would help if you took the following safety measures even as you engage a professional to help you out.
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Stop The Flow Of Water From The Main Source
If the flooding was caused by a faulty plumbing system in the kitchen, stop the water flow from the primary source.
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Disconnect Electric Power Supply
Switch off electric power from the mains, and remove electric appliances from the plugs on sockets. This is to avoid any fire outbreaks or electrocution.
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Assess How Severe The Damage Is
Take time to check how much the flood water has damaged the kitchen. In the case of a wooden floor, note that wood soaks up water and begins to break down. The soaked wood creates an environment for mold and mildew, a health hazard to the family. Engaging professionals to drain the water immediately will help a great deal.
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Focus On Other Immediate Actions
Move any furniture and any other items on the floor to a dry place, as well as papers or magazines whose ink will quickly run out to the surfaces they are placed on when they get water. Open drawers and cabinets that may be wet, and open the windows for clean air circulation.
Reasons Why You Need To Remodel The Kitchen After A Flood
Trying to bring your kitchen back to its original shape after a flood or water damage by DIY can be some pretty overwhelming work. You will not go wrong with engaging professionals to help you do complete remodeling. Below are some reasons why you should remodel the kitchen completely:
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Floods Bring Along Structural Damages
Flood water will destroy the walls, floor, and cabinets. In homes where wood materials have been used, water will damage the surface and the foundation underneath. The surface can dry over time, but it’ll leave moisture trapped underneath the floorboards and behind the walls. This poses a massive risk of mold formation, a severe health hazard. Mold causes respiratory problems, migraines, and other illnesses. You may not be able to clear the mold completely until you renovate the kitchen entirely.
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Cost-Effectiveness
Flooding or water damage comes along with its expenses. It’s one thing to remodel your kitchen after the water damage, and it’s another to restore it, then redo. Engaging a professional who will offer both restoration and remodeling will minimize the costs you have to incur.
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Floods May Be The Gateway For Pests In Your Home
Flooding invites insects and pests like cockroaches and rats because they breed in dark and damp places, which is the environment your kitchen provides after the damage. You can only better fix the problem by remodeling the kitchen completely.
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Floods Pause A Threat To Food Safety And Cleanliness
You may not be able to clean enough after floods or water damage. This is because of the formation of mold, which releases spores into the air. These can be absorbed in food and land on the utensils you use in the house, causing severe health issues. The best way to avoid these problems is to remodel and restore the kitchen completely.
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Upgrading Your Kitchen
At some point, you may desire to upgrade your kitchen not necessarily because of floods, but in case of that happening, don’t let the opportunity pass. Ensure to have a layout of the kitchen redesign you want. Depending on the professionals you engage in doing the remodeling work, some can restore the items in the kitchen like cabinets as they recreate the entire space. They will be able to work that out so that the costs will be manageable enough, and in return, you’ll have a new kitchen.
Remodeling Steps
Below are the steps to take in remodeling your kitchen after a flood:
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Reach Out To Your Insurance Company
In most cases, it’s expected that damage resulting from flooding should be reported within the first 24 hours. Follow up with questions on whether the insurance company can compensate you for your incurred costs to set up a makeshift kitchen or buy food before the damaged one is renovated.
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Look For The Supply Of Water
Three sources of water could be the reason for any leakage. It’s best to identify them immediately and clean up the leakage as required. Clean water is water from rain or leaking drains and can be easily cleaned out. Gray water is the water that comes from dishwashers, washing machines, and toilets. It contains toxins that make it difficult to clean up. Blackwater may have come from a local canal containing sewage and other toxins.
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Drain The Water
Ensure to remove all the water, including hidden spaces like cabinets, so that the area is arid. To achieve this better, engage professionals because they have the equipment that’s best suited for the work. You should install new fixtures in a dry space.
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Engage A Clean Up Company
You will be in a better position to hire a clean-up company to remove all the water and get the entire kitchen area dry. If the flooding has been caused by leakage of the faucets, you will need a professional first to inspect the damage caused and then fix it.
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Prioritize Structural Elements
As you begin the renovation, prioritize structural elements such as walls, floors, and the roof. This is because they’re more exposed to floods. Therefore, they should be intact to keep the home structurally sound and clean.
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Reinforce Interior Walls
Together with deodorizing the framing, get water-resistant replacements. Instead of fiberglass material that soaks water, consider getting extruded polystyrene foam boards for insulation. Fix a cement board to replace the drywall, which will completely do away with mold infestations. Replace wood trim with PVC- based boards to keep the walls dry even when the carpet gets wet. Consider using waterproof paint for the surfaces.
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Take Out Insulation
Insulation bats get saturated when there’s a flood or water leakage and usually don’t completely dry out. That means that moisture will be retained throughout the walls, resulting in poor air quality, mold formation, and more damage to the house’s structure because of rot. It’s thus advisable to remove the insulation and replace it.
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Do An Air Test
It’s advisable that after a flood, you test the quality of air in your house to confirm if it matches the outdoor conditions. If you find that it’s not, you should get out of the house and have the renovation done before you get back in.
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Work Within Your Budget As You Upgrade The Kitchen
It’s possible to be carried away by how you intend to upgrade your kitchen from the flood incident. It’s advisable to develop a budget for the upgrade and stick to it. Prepare well financially before you embark on the remodeling work. Improve the items in the kitchen instead of entirely replacing them. For example, you can repaint cabinets. Prioritize the most critical areas like the floor and walls as you go down to the unimportant items.
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Make Time To Check On The Progress
Ensure that before the contractor begins the remodeling work, you confirm that the materials brought are the ones you requested – things like paint. Visit the premises as often as you can so that if the design is not coming together as you wish, you can ask the contractor to make adjustments. If you go after the work is finished, you may realize something is not done as you wanted, and it will be stressful to have to redo and costly.
Benefits Of Remodeling Your Kitchen After A Flood
The good thing about remodeling your kitchen is that it’ll have a new look. Some of the benefits are as follows:
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It’s Advantageous
This is the case when you can find professionals who offer a complete service package, meaning they can do both restoring and remodeling. This is more efficient in time and cost-saving because you’ll be engaging one contractor for all the work.
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It Enhances Sustainability Of The Kitchen
You can achieve sustainability in various ways. For instance, you can opt for water-saving faucets to avoid wasting water. You can also use more sustainable materials like bamboo to make floors and countertops.
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You Get To Achieve Better Aesthetic Value Of Your Kitchen
Renovating the kitchen will turn the room into an exciting space because you have the liberty to be creative and express your personality. You can use luxurious materials like granite for the surfaces to make the room more beautiful.
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You Will Upgrade Safety
Remodeling your kitchen means updating the appliances therein to replace the outdated ones that could cause electrical hazards. For instance, you can opt to mount a wall oven instead of the under-bench ones to avoid accidents.
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You Have An Opportunity To Install Good Lighting
You’re assured of both a functional and beautiful kitchen when you have good lighting. As you remodel the kitchen, you’ll have the opportunity to select lighting fixtures that will highlight the kitchen’s best features. You’ll also be able to avoid cluttered countertops and have the food well prepared.
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An Improved Functionality Of Your Kitchen
Remodeling will allow you to identify the adjustments to make. For example, you can opt to completely change the layout of your kitchen by maybe bringing down an interior wall. Doing this will create more space and ease traffic flow in your kitchen. These and many other changes you can think of will make the kitchen more functional.
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Remodeling Is A Reliable Way Of Removing Insects And Pests
Since a flooded kitchen will provide a favorable environment for insects and pests to breed, you’re likely to suffer the risk of infections both to the household members and pets. The presence of termites, for instance, will eat on the wood resulting in structural weakness of the house. Remodeling is one of the long-term options for fixing the problem.
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You Can Update The Backsplash
A backsplash is the first thing people see when they get into the kitchen that needs to be updated so that even if you don’t get to do much with the remodeling, it will stand out. You can still be within your budget when using materials like engineering stone for the backsplash.
How to prevent a kitchen from flooding
flooding can be a serious problem in the kitchen. if not prevented, it can lead to extensive damage to your home and belongings. while there are a number of ways to prevent flooding, the most effective method is to have a proper drainage system in place.
a properly installed drainage system will ensure that water is directed away from your home, preventing it from pooling around your foundation. in addition, it is important to clear gutters and downspouts on a regular basis to ensure that they are not blocked.
if you live in an area that is prone to flooding, it is also a good idea to have a backup sump pump in case of a power outage. finally, it is important to keep an eye on the weather forecast and be prepared to take action if necessary.
Taking these steps will help to prevent flooding in your kitchen and protect your home from damage.
Can a refrigerator/Ice Maker flood a kitchen?
It’s happened to many of us before. You wake up in the middle of the night to a strange noise, only to discover that your kitchen is flooded and your refrigerator is to blame. But how exactly does this happen?
It turns out that there are a few different ways that a fridge can cause a flood. One common culprit is a leaking ice maker. The water line that supplies the ice maker can become frozen or blocked, causing water to build up and eventually leak out onto the floor. Another potential problem is a clogged defrost drain. Water from the melting ice in the freezer can back up into the fridge, eventually overflowing onto the floor. And finally, if the refrigerator is not level, water from the fridge can spill out onto the floor when you open the door.
Fortunately, there are a few simple steps you can take to help prevent your refrigerator from flooding your kitchen. First, make sure that the ice maker’s water line is properly insulated and free from any blockages. Second, regularly clean your fridge’s defrost drain to prevent it from becoming clogged.
And finally, be sure to keep your fridge level at all times to prevent accidental spills. By taking these precautions, you can help keep your kitchen dry and avoid costly repairs.
Conclusion
Floods in the kitchen are enough to take you down to square one. It can be very stressful, costly, and takes quite a long time to restore and remodel the kitchen. One way or another, you have to make adjustments after the damage.
You will inevitably want to remodel your kitchen after a flood. Be optimistic about remodeling because the result will be fulfilling, considering that you’ll have the opportunity to have your dream kitchen. Invest time to plan for the remodeling both psychologically and financially. Have a layout of what you want ready before hiring a contractor. When remodeling begins, be in touch with your contractor to ensure that the design is as you wish.
Also, read:
- 10 Things To Consider When Building An Outdoor Kitchen
- Best 17 Kitchen Corner Storage Ideas and Products
- What Can I Use In Place Of Quarter Round?
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