The Quest for Sparkling Tiles

You walk into your office one morning only to find the entire place flooded. Lucky for you, the documents in the cabinets and on top of the desks are safe and dry. Unfortunately, your wooden office desks, chairs, and upholstery are half-soaked with water. Besides the fact that there won't be any work this particular morning, you may also end up incurring furniture replacement costs. What can you do salvage the furniture and minimise the losses? Read on for some measures that you can quickly take to protect your waterlogged furniture from extensive damage.

Inspect the damage

Before you go wading through the murky waters, take the time to inspect the damage and possibly identify the source of the floods. Is it rainwater, a broken plumbing pipe, or did the sewer backup into the toilet and overflow? If the water contains sewage, it may be a bad idea to come into contact with it. This would put your health at risk. However, if it is just water from the building or rain, you can proceed to salvage the furniture.

Move the furniture

As wooden furniture sits in the water, it continues to soak in it. The wood will eventually warp, and you will not be able to restore it. So, the first step should be to move the furniture out of the water. Find help if possible as some pieces of furniture can be too bulky for you to lift alone. Place the desks on a dry surface, preferably along the corridor or outside the office. If the sun is out, you can air dry the furniture as well.

Note that if the office isn't too flooded, you can consider drying the water on the floor with a mop. This would be easier as compared to moving large desks, cabinets and chairs, and risking spilling documents all over the flooded floor.

Carry out mould control

As you strive to dry your furniture and restore it, remember that mould thrives in wet conditions. If the damp furniture is left out in a warm place for extended periods, it will attract mould. Prevent this by leaving the furniture in an area with controlled temperature. Adjust the AC to cool the room. The cold will slow down mould growth and buy you time to dry the furniture.

The fastest way to salvage your waterlogged office furniture is by contacting a professional cleaning service. Find a drying service that has sophisticated drying equipment to help salvage furniture, upholstery, carpets, and office documents after a flood.