What to Do Right After Water Damage: A First-Hour Checklist

What should I do right after I find water damage?

Make the area safe, then shut off the water at the main valve. The rest can wait a few minutes. Work through these steps in order.

1. Get people and pets clear. Stay out from under a sagging ceiling. If you smell gas, leave the house right away. From a safe distance, call 911 or Atmos Energy’s emergency line at 866-322-8667 (City of Bellevue).
2. Stay out of water near electricity. Don’t step into standing water near outlets, cords or appliances. Turn off the power at the breaker panel only if you can reach it from a dry spot. If you’d have to stand in water to reach it, call an electrician instead (CDC).
3. Shut off the water. Close your main shutoff valve. In most Bellevue homes it’s in the City meter box near the curb, between the sidewalk and the street. Turn the valve a half turn clockwise until the arrow points away from the meter. You need a meter box key, sold at home improvement stores (City of Bellevue, “How to Shut Off Water to Your Home”).
4. Use a closer valve if you can. A leak at one fixture can often be stopped at its own valve. Look under the sink, beside the toilet or on the water heater. If it’s an electric water heater, cut its power at the breaker before you close its water valve (City of Bellevue).
5. Drain the lines. Open the hot and cold taps at the lowest point in the house. That takes pressure off the broken pipe (City of Bellevue).
6. Take photos and video. Get wide shots of each wet room and close-ups of the source, before you move or throw out anything.
7. Keep the broken part. Save the split hose, cracked fitting or failed valve. Your adjuster may want to see it.
8. Move what you can. Lift papers, photos, electronics and small furniture onto a dry surface or into a dry room.

Leak at the meter, the street, or a valve that won’t close? Contact the City of Bellevue; it handles its side of the line. Renting an apartment? The City says to contact your property manager.

Once the water is off and the room is safe, call (425) 307-0286 if you need the water removed and the house dried.

What should I do first?

Get the source fixed, tell your insurer, and start drying the same day. Wet drywall, carpet pad and wood keep soaking up water while you wait.

• Call a licensed plumber if a pipe, fitting or water heater failed. Only L&I-certified plumbers can legally perform plumbing work on someone else’s property (Washington L&I).
• Report the loss to your insurer. Write down the claim number and your adjuster’s name. Our Washington water damage insurance guide explains what to document and the deadlines.
• Start the drying. Your insurer expects you to take reasonable steps to protect your home. The Washington Office of the Insurance Commissioner says a claim may be denied if you don’t. Drying is one of those steps.
• Hold off on permanent repairs, like new drywall or flooring, until the adjuster has seen the damage (Washington Office of the Insurance Commissioner).
• Keep every receipt. That includes the plumber, fans, towels, a hotel and meals.
• Renting? Tell your landlord in writing the same day. Who pays for water damage explains how this works with landlords, HOAs and neighbors.

How long the drying itself takes depends on the materials. See how long water damage takes to dry.

Who should I call first?

Call the person who can stop the water first. Then call your insurer and a restoration company the same day.

• The water won’t stop: the City of Bellevue lines above, or a plumber.
• Water touched outlets or the breaker panel: an electrician.
• You smell gas: 911 or Atmos Energy at 866-322-8667, from a safe distance outside.
• You rent: your landlord or property manager.
• The water is off and things are wet: your insurer and a restoration company. Call (425) 307-0286 to reach one any time of day.

If a pipe burst, our burst pipe guide explains who fixes the pipe and who dries the house.

What should I not do after water damage?

Most of the costly mistakes are about electricity, chemicals and throwing things out too early. Avoid these.

• Don’t touch switches or plug in anything while you’re standing in water (CDC).
• Don’t use an ordinary household vacuum on water. A wet vac (shop vac) made for liquids is the right tool.
• Don’t run a generator, pressure washer or any gas-powered engine inside the house or garage. They give off carbon monoxide (CDC).
• Don’t throw out damaged items before you photograph them. The Washington Office of the Insurance Commissioner says to keep damaged items until your adjuster has seen them. If something has to go sooner for health reasons, like sewage-soaked carpet, photograph it first and tell your insurer.
• Don’t paint or caulk over mold. The EPA says to clean up the mold and dry the surface first, because paint over mold is likely to peel.
• Don’t mix bleach with cleaners that contain ammonia. The fumes are toxic (EPA).
• Don’t run the heating and AC if you know or suspect it’s contaminated with mold (EPA).
• Don’t start permanent repairs before the adjuster sees the damage (Washington Office of the Insurance Commissioner).
• Don’t sign anything you haven’t read. A work authorization is normal. Handing over your insurance benefits is something else. Our guide to hiring a restoration company explains the difference.

Is water damage dangerous?

Water damage can be dangerous, mainly because of electricity, dirty water and mold. Most clean-water leaks are safe to deal with once the power near the water is off.

The risks to watch for:

What happens when water gets in an electrical outlet?

• Electricity. Water near outlets, cords or the breaker panel is the most urgent hazard. Have an electrician check the system before the power goes back on (CDC).
• Dirty water. Water from a toilet, washer, sewer line or outside flooding can carry germs. The restoration industry calls it Category 2 or Category 3 water. See water damage categories and classes.
• A sagging ceiling. A ceiling holding water can come down. Keep people out from under it. See ceiling water damage.
• Mold. It can start if wet materials stay wet for more than 24 to 48 hours (EPA). See mold remediation if you can already see or smell it.

Water in an outlet can cause a shock or a short. Treat the outlet as live until the power is off.

Don’t touch the outlet or anything plugged into it. Turn off that circuit at the breaker panel, but only if you can stand somewhere dry. Otherwise call an electrician. Have an electrician check any wet outlet before you use it again (CDC; Electrical Safety Foundation International).

Is it safe to stay in my house after water damage?

Often, yes, if it was a clean-water leak in one part of the house and the power there is off. Many families stay home while one area dries.

Plan to stay somewhere else if any of these are true:

• You smell gas.
• Sewage or outside flood water came into the living space. See sewage cleanup and flood damage restoration.
• You can’t safely shut off power to the wet area.
• The house has structural damage. The CDC says not to go back in until a building inspector has checked it.
• Mold has spread and the cleanup isn’t finished. The CDC says to make sure mold cleanup is complete before you move back in.

If you have to leave, keep receipts for the hotel and meals. Many policies pay extra living costs when a covered loss makes the home unlivable. Our insurance guide covers that, too.

Can I clean up water damage myself?

A small clean-water spill on a hard floor, caught right away, you can usually handle. Towels, a wet vac and a fan will do. Bigger, dirtier or hidden water is where DIY tends to go wrong.

The EPA gives two useful limits:

Is DIY water damage cleanup riskier than it looks?

• Mold: if the moldy area is less than about 10 square feet, roughly a 3-by-3-foot patch, in most cases you can clean it yourself. If there has been a lot of water damage, or the mold covers more than 10 square feet, the EPA points you to its more detailed cleanup guide (EPA). That is usually when people call a professional.
• Contaminated water: if the damage came from sewage or other contaminated water, the EPA says to call a professional with experience in that kind of cleanup.

Call a restoration company when:

water soaked into carpet pad, drywall or under flooring

more than one room got wet

the water came from a toilet, washer, sewer or outside flooding

you smell something musty days later

Our extraction and drying page explains what a company does on the first visit.

The main risk is water you can’t see. It runs under baseboards, into wall cavities and across the subfloor. The surface can feel dry while the wall behind it stays wet.

A restoration technician checks with a moisture meter instead of by touch. If you dry it yourself, the drying time guide explains how dryness is measured. A cut-out wall or floor may also need rebuilding afterward. See water damage repair.

How do I tell if water damage is new or old?

New damage is usually still wet and spreading. Old damage usually shows rings, rot, mold or a musty smell.

Signs the leak is new:

• the spot is damp or dripping to the touch
• a moisture meter reads wet
• the spot grows over hours or days
• there are no rings around the edge yet

Signs the leak has been going on a while:

rings or “tide lines” around the edge of a stain

wood that is rotted or crumbles when pressed

visible mold, or a musty smell

These are clues, not proof. Guides don’t agree on what the color or softness of a stain means, so a moisture reading and dated photos count for more.

This matters for insurance. Insurers usually cover sudden damage and often deny slow leaks that went on over time (Washington Office of the Insurance Commissioner). Take dated photos the day you find it. Our insurance guide explains how adjusters decide.

How can I tell where a water leak is coming from?

Start with your water meter. The EPA’s WaterSense program says to read it before and after a two-hour period when no water is being used. If the reading changes at all, you probably have a leak.

Then narrow it down:

How do I find a professional for leak detection?

• Toilets. Put a few drops of food coloring in the tank. If color shows up in the bowl after 10 minutes, the toilet leaks (EPA WaterSense). Flush right after, so the dye doesn’t stain.
• Ceiling stains. Water runs downhill and along framing, so the source is above the stain or uphill from it. Check the bathroom, water heater or AC unit overhead. See ceiling water damage.
• Water heater, AC, washer or dishwasher. Look for water in the drain pan or on the floor around it. See water heater and AC leak damage.
• A warm spot on the floor, or a bill that jumped. These can point to a leak under the slab. See slab leak water damage.
• After a freeze. Check pipes on outside walls, in the attic and in the garage. Our Bellevue frozen pipe guide lists the weak spots.

Leak detection is usually done by plumbers, and fixing the leak is plumbing work that needs a licensed plumber. Ask for their license number and check the certification with Washington L&I.

A plumber finds and fixes the leak. A restoration company dries what got wet. Some homes need both. Call (425) 307-0286 if the plumber has found the leak and you need the drying done.

Water in your home? Call (425) 307-0286

Shut off the main, take photos, then call. We connect callers in Bellevue and nearby service areas with an independent local restoration company. For what that company does, see water damage restoration in Bellevue. More guides are in our water damage resources, and quick answers are on our frequently asked questions page.