What to Do After a Sewer Backup

If raw sewage flooded your bathrooms, basement, or any other part of your home, you’re going to have a mess to clean up. It’s an unfortunate situation, but after the repairs are made the homeowner is usually left to deal with the aftermath. When faced with circumstances like these, safety should always be at the center of your clean-up action plan. Raw sewage not only smells and causes water damage, but it is unsanitary and can be harmful to your health. Here are tips for getting your home back in order after a sewage incident. Seal off the affected areas from children and pets: Under no circumstances should children or pets be allowed in an area of the home where raw sewage exists. If necessary, you may need to kennel pets if the cleanup process is will take several days. Never use electrical appliances where standing water is present: Remove wet carpeting, furnishing, and other accessories from the area before plugging in any electrical appliances. In some cases, you may need to use a wet vac to remove standing water. We recommend hiring a professional to do this. If you choose to do this yourself, please use extreme caution. Properly dispose of waste water: It may be tempting to dump the dirty water you collect outside. However, this can cause health concerns. All sewage water should be disposed of into a sanitary sewer system. Assuming the sewer line problem is fixed, you could flush the water down the toilet or into the main line. Purchase or rent dehumidifiers and air purifiers: A home that experienced a waste water incident will smell for some time until it is completely dry and aired out. This process can take days or even weeks depending on how bad the situation was. Dehumidifiers and air purifiers can speed up the process and get your home smelling clean and fresh again. Floor fans are also very helpful in accelerating the process. Wash concrete floors with bleach or other germ-killing agents: Some times when an unfinished basement flood with sewage water it’s a homeowner’s first instinct to sop up the water and call it a day. Unfortunately, this isn’t enough to solve the problem. Germs and bacteria still exist on the concrete and need to be sanitized using bleach or another agent. No one wants to deal with raw sewage in their homes. Preventive sewer backup solutions in California like annual sewer line inspections can reduce the chances of something like this happening to you, but there are never any guarantees. Sometimes the situation just is what it is. If you find yourself dealing with a busted sewer line, inside or outside of your home, call Rooter Hero Plumbing immediately. We offer emergency service 24/7 to assist local homeowners, landlords, and commercial properties with repair and restoration services.