Tips For Cleaning Up Your Basement From A Sewage Backup

If there is a mess of sewage spills in your basement, you must not delay in cleaning up the area. The longer you delay, the higher the risk for the disease to be spread to your household members. Delaying the sewage spill cleanup can also cause extensive damage to your house structure and inflict an even higher cost.

The first step to be taken is to turn off and unplug all the electrical cords that joined to the electrical appliances in the basement. It is important to wear protective equipment when clearing up the mess in the area contaminated with sewage spills. Wearing protective equipment while emptying the contaminated area can protect you from fungus, bacteria, molds and viruses contained in the sewage spills. These germs can spread infection and diseases so it is important to protect yourself by wearing protective equipment.

If your toilet system is damaged and keeps on overflowing, you must avoid flushing the toilet. You also should not open any tap where the water flows into the drain. The next step is to remove the carpets, furniture and other things that can be salvage from the basement. Other contents located nearby that are not contaminated should also be moved to an area with hard surface such as concrete area so that you can easily clean them. Carpets and furniture that are already saturated with the sewage spills should be discarded.

If the weather is sunny, you can open the window to let the sun and wind enter into the basement in order to reduce the level of humidity. While cleaning up the basement, it is advised that you don’t turn on the air conditioner or heater as the particles from the sewage spills can enter into the duct system and contaminate it. You will need to use a sewage pump to pump out large volumes of flood waters. If there is just a small amount of water, you can use a utility pump.

You can use a vacuum cleaner suitable for use in wet/dry environment to suck in the solids. If you don’t have a wet/dry vacuum cleaner, you should use a push broom to push way all the solids into the drain. After you have pumped out the water and vacuum the solids, you should use a water hose to wash all the surfaces. You can mix some disinfectant detergent into the water and use the solution to wash the walls and floors. After washing the basement thoroughly, you can use a dehumidifier or table fans to dry up the area.

It is not easy to clean up the basement yourself if you don’t have experience in carrying out a sewage backup cleanup. If you are not experienced, you should contact a professional water damage restoration company to help you. They are equipped with the necessary cleaning tools and equipment and they have a team of trained professionals who know how to perform the sewage backup clean according to the standard procedure.