Discovering water pouring into your bathroom will always be a difficult issue to deal with. After all, you have probably spent hours and potentially a lot of money, on creating the perfect bathroom.
Sadly, pipes get old and stress causes joints to fail, resulting in water pumping into your bathroom Of course, it invariably happens at night, this makes it more complicated and the problem worse before it is discovered.
You are going to need to move quickly in order to minimize the damage and have the problem resolved.
Shut Off the Water
The assumption is that the bathroom flooding is due to a burst pipe. If this is the case you need to shut off the main valve, preventing any more water from flooding into the bathroom. It is a good idea to check where your main valve is now, it will make it quicker and easier to shut off in an emergency.
This must be your first response. Immediately water flowing into the room should start decreasing.
It should be noted that if the flooding is due to a bath overflowing or a toilet backing up you still need to ensure the water is off, preventing any more from going down the drain.
Call For Help
The next step is to call for help. In order to get the water supply back on you are going to need the problem dealt with. Whether it is a burst pipe or a backlogged toilet it is a good idea to call your emergency plumber. The sooner they can get to your home the quicker it will be that you have the water back on and can continue with normality.
Electrical Check
Most bathrooms have some electricity in them, perhaps a shaving point or a fan socket. As electricity and water are a dangerous combination you need to shut the electricity off to the bathroom. This will reduce the likelihood of an electrical shock happening.
Providing you are confident that the circuit breaker shuts off all power to the bathroom you don’t need to shut off all the power to the house. If you are unsure, it is safest to shut all power off and have an electrician check the circuits.
Clearing Up
While you are waiting for help to arrive you can start clearing up the excess water. You’ll need a bucket and a mop/sponge to absorb the water and allow you to throw it outside. Rolled-up towels are a great way to stop the water from spreading further, allowing you to scoop up as much as possible and get rid of it.
Do not be tempted to use a vacuum to suck up the water.
Move Furniture
Any furniture that can be moved should be taken out of the bathroom. You can dry these out in the sunshine and then assess whether they can be reused or not.
Drying
The final stages of drying take time. It is best to use cool air, which means opening the window and using a fan to move the air across the bathroom. The cool air will absorb moisture and help the room to dry fully.
