Holiday Guests Could Cause Water Damage If You’re Not Careful This Year

The holiday season is about coming together with family and friends. For many people, this means hosting family celebrations and get-togethers inside of their homes. While this is an opportunity to enjoy time with loved ones, however, having guests over during the holidays could also lead to water damage – if you aren’t careful. In order to ensure that your holidays are merry and bright, we’ve dedicated this post to exploring some of the common causes of water damage during the holidays and how to avoid them.

Appliance Mishaps

When guests are invited into a home, they often want to do their part to help out around the house. Perhaps they want to wash your dishes after you spent the day slaving over a hot oven to prepare a family meal, or it could be that they simply need to do some laundry while staying at your place. Whatever the reason may be, you should take the time to explain how your major appliances work. Not all dishwashers, washing machines, ice makers, or other similar appliances work the same way, and user error or confusion could lead to a huge mess or even a flood. Prevention is the key to avoiding disaster here, so just make sure that your guests understand any limitations that your appliances may have, and are aware of any specific instructions for operation.

Plumbing Trouble

With more people in your home than usual, your plumbing may start to feel a bit of a strain. Suddenly, more people are taking showers and using the bathroom than usual. In some instances, this has led to issues with drains becoming clogged or toilets backing up. These types of problems can cause messy (and sometimes unsanitary) flooding that may lead to serious water damage. Improper cleanup of sewage-contaminated water can lead to health problems. Make sure to deal with any potential issues right away so that they can be handled before you need call restoration professionals!

Cracked Windows

A higher volume of people inside the house means a heck of a lot more opinions when it comes to what constitutes a “comfortable temperature.” While you might prefer that the thermostat be set to a lower temperature, your parents or grandparents might keep cranking up the heat. When the heat gets turned up too high for some individuals, they might choose to crack open a window in their bedroom for ventilation. If they forget to close the window when not in the room, rain, sleet, or snow could cause damage to the interior of your home. Remember to check windows frequently (especially when precipitation is in the forecast). You might also consider providing warm guests with floor fans in order to prevent the need for opening a window altogether.

Minor Flooding

Opening up your home to guests creates more opportunities for small floods and accidents to take place. Whether your cousin overflowed the bathtub or all of your grandkids left their soaking wet snow clothes and boots in a heap on your floor, the excess pools of water can wreak havoc on your housing materials and will need to be addressed right away.

Following these tips will help minimize your risk of water damage this holiday season, but accidents can still happen. In the event that your home is impacted by water damage, it’s very important that you act quickly. It takes less than 24 hours for water damage to start creating mold spores. The longer you wait, the more problems and headaches you will have in the long run. The experts at Abbotts Fire & Flood are available all day every day for your water emergency needs. We will work with your insurance company to repair the damage and help you get the most out of your policy.