Flood damage cleanup can be a very daunting task. Although your spirits may be down throughout the process, you will have the know how to get the job done.

There is an essential hierarchy in priorities when dealing with a flood damage cleanup. The top of the pyramid in the series of tasks is removing the water. If you have in excess of 3-4 inches you may want to use a sump pump to remove the water.

A sump pump will pump the water into a drain or outside. If the cause of the flood is a faulty drain, you will obviously want to find an alternate place to pump the water. You can attach a hose to the sump pump and draw the water outside through a window.

If you are pumping the water outside, make sure to draw it out at least 10 feet from the foundation of the house. You will also want to find a spot that will send the water downhill.

While you are removing the water you may want to wade through the water and find any pictures or other important documents. You can collect these documents & photos and bring them to an area where you can set them to dry.

When you have finished removing the excess water from the house, you will need to begin assessing and prioritizing the damage throughout the house. This is where you craft your flood damage cleanup action plan. If conditions permit, this would be a good time to begin removing furniture from the house, and bringing it outside.

Again, if the conditions allow for it, you can setup a staging area to dry furniture outside. This will be even more necessary if you have carpeted floors. Depending on the type of water that has flooded the floor, you may need to replace the carpets completely. At the very least you will have to un-tack the carpets so you can replace the mat. This will mean completely removing your carpets, removing, and disposing of the under mat, completely drying the floor, and the laying the carpet with a fresh mat underneath.

The drywall on the walls and ceilings may be wet as well. If you are dealing with moist drywall, you will need to dry them out as soon as possible by using heavy duty fans, and a mid-range dehumidifier. You should again prioritize the damaged areas to determine where to begin. You are almost done with your flood damage cleanup. You now need to go room by room drying out the walls, floors and ceilings.

The furniture needs to be assessed when you have it in one separate staging area. Depending on the water that flooded, you may have to replace the furniture. Unfortunately during your flood damage cleanup you may find casualties along the way.

For flood damage cleanup on your documents and photographs, you can have them air dried, or dried with a light fan, and/or blotching paper.

If you try and remain focused on the tasks at hand, your flood damage cleanup will be a much easier task.