What to Do in the First Hour After a Pipe Bursts or You Find Water Damage

Stop the water and cut the risk

Everything else waits until the water stops and the area is safe. Shut off the water. Most Arizona homes have a main shutoff where the supply line enters the house, commonly in a box near the street, in a wall box on the exterior, or in the garage near the water heater. Turn it clockwise until it stops. If the leak is at one fixture (toilet, sink, water heater, washing machine), there is usually a smaller local valve at that fixture you can close instead. If the valve is stuck or corroded, go to the main. If water is near outlets, light fixtures, or a panel, do not walk into it. Cut power to that area at the breaker if you can reach the panel from a dry spot. If you cannot reach it safely, leave the area and call an electrician or your utility. If the water came from a sewer line, a toilet backup, or an unknown source outside the house, treat it as contaminated. Keep kids and pets out. Do not touch it without gloves and boots. If the leak is a water heater and you smell gas, or the heater is gas-fired and now sitting in water, shut off the gas supply to it and leave gas repairs to a licensed technician.

Document before you clean anything

Once the water is off, take pictures and video before you move a single item. Insurance adjusters reconstruct what happened from what you captured in the first half hour. Cleaning up first is the most common and most expensive mistake homeowners make. Capture: wide shots of each affected room, the water line on the walls and baseboards, the actual source of the leak (the pipe, the failed supply hose, the appliance), the ceiling if water came from above, and close-ups of damaged furniture, flooring, and belongings. Get the whole scene, not just the worst spot. Write down the time you found it and the time the water stopped. Save the broken part or hose if it came loose. It is evidence of what failed. Then call your insurance carrier and open a claim. Ask what your policy covers, what your deductible is, and whether they need anything specific documented. You are allowed to choose your own licensed contractor for the repair; you are not required to use a company the carrier suggests.

Move what you can and start airflow

Now start limiting the spread. Water travels along the flattest path and wicks upward into porous material, so damage keeps growing even after the leak stops. Get items up off wet flooring: cardboard boxes, books, papers, electronics, upholstered furniture, and anything wood. Put foil or plastic under furniture legs so stain does not bleed into carpet. Take up small area rugs. They will transfer dye. Pull standing water with a wet/dry vac or a squeegee toward a drain if the water is clean. Do not use a household vacuum. Do not run a wet/dry vac if you have not confirmed power in that area is safe. Open interior doors and closet doors so trapped air can move, and run ceiling fans. In Phoenix, outdoor air is usually dry enough that running the AC helps pull moisture out, but during monsoon humidity, keep windows closed and rely on the AC instead of outside air. What not to do: do not use a heater to "dry it out faster" (heat plus moisture inside a wall accelerates mold growth), do not lift or tear out wet tile or wood flooring yourself, and do not put fans directly on a wall you suspect has sewage water behind it.

What still needs a professional look

Surface dry is not dry. Drywall, framing, insulation, subfloor, and cabinet toe-kicks hold water you cannot see or feel, and mold can begin developing in that hidden moisture within roughly a couple of days under the right conditions. Professional drying uses moisture meters and thermal imaging to find the wet edge, then places air movers and dehumidifiers to dry the structure to a measured target, not just until it feels dry to the touch. Call for help right away if: water came through a ceiling, the source was a sewer line or toilet overflow, the water sat for more than a day, water reached more than one room, it got under hardwood, laminate, or tile, or the wet area includes drywall you cannot open up yourself. Gold Water Fire handles both sides of this: the drying and cleanup, and the rebuild of drywall, flooring, paint, and cabinetry once the structure is dry. See Water Damage Restoration and Reconstruction & Rebuild. If the water came from a fire response, see Fire Damage Restoration. AZ ROC #264344 · KB-2. Serving the Phoenix metro area including Chandler, Mesa, Gilbert, Tempe, Scottsdale, Glendale, Peoria, Queen Creek, and San Tan Valley.

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