Hour one: safety, then shut it off
Before anything else. If water is anywhere near outlets, a panel, or appliances, cut the power to those circuits at the breaker — and if you would have to stand in water to reach the panel, call an electrician or the utility instead. Do not enter a crawl space with standing water and live wiring. If the water is sewage or came across the ground from a creek or river, treat it as contaminated: gloves, boots, and no bare skin.
Then stop the source. Shut the main water valve for a plumbing failure. Tarp the roof or set buckets under an active leak. Turn off the water heater if it is the source. You cannot dry a house that is still getting wet.
Hours 1–4: document, then move
Photograph before you touch anything. Wide shots of every affected room, then close-ups of damaged materials and belongings, plus a shot of the source if you can see it. Video walking through is even better. This takes five minutes and is the difference between a smooth insurance claim and an argument. Keep every receipt from here forward, including for a wet-vac rental or a box of gloves.
Then start moving water and possessions. Lift or remove area rugs. Get furniture up on blocks or foil so finishes do not bleed into wet carpet. Move irreplaceable items — documents, photographs, electronics — to a dry part of the house. Open interior doors and closets in the affected zone so air can reach the cavities.
Hours 1–24: get the water out mechanically
This is the highest-value work in the whole process. Every gallon removed physically is a gallon that does not have to be pulled out of the air later. A wet-vac on hard floors and carpet, a submersible pump for standing water in a crawl space, mopping and towels for the rest. Pull up wet carpet pad if you can — pad holds enormous amounts of water and rarely dries in place.
The Vancouver-specific warning: do not rely on opening windows. From October through May, outdoor air here averages around 85 percent relative humidity. Bringing it inside adds moisture rather than removing it. Effective drying in a Pacific Northwest wet season requires a closed house and commercial dehumidification, not ventilation. This is the single most common mistake local homeowners make after a water loss.
Hours 24–48: the mold clock
Mold can begin growing on wet organic material within 24 to 48 hours. That window is why professional mitigation prioritizes speed above everything else. By hour 48 you want the standing water gone, wet insulation and pad removed, air movers and dehumidifiers running, and someone with a moisture meter telling you what is actually still wet — because water travels sideways through framing and up through drywall much further than the visible line suggests.
What has to come out rather than being dried: wet fiberglass insulation, always. Carpet pad, almost always. Particleboard and MDF, which swell and delaminate. Drywall that has wicked water, which typically gets a flood cut a foot or two above the water line so the cavity can dry. Anything that was in contact with contaminated water.
Know your water category
- Category 1, clean: supply line, water heater, rainwater. Materials can often be dried in place if you move fast.
- Category 2, grey: appliance discharge, toilet overflow without solids. Porous materials usually come out.
- Category 3, black: sewage, or any water that came across the ground — which includes creek and river flooding. All porous material in contact with it is removed, and the space is disinfected. No exceptions.
Category 1 water degrades to Category 2 or 3 if it sits for more than about 48 hours. Time changes the answer.
Calling insurance
Report promptly. Washington homeowners policies generally cover sudden and accidental water damage — a pipe that burst, a water heater that failed — and generally exclude gradual seepage, long-term leaks, and surface flooding. Flooding from a river, creek, or heavy runoff requires separate flood insurance, which typically carries a 30-day waiting period, so it cannot be bought during a storm. Mold coverage is usually a sublimit and applies only when the mold follows a covered loss.
When you call: give the date and the cause, describe what you have already done to mitigate (which policies generally require you to do), and ask whether emergency mitigation is covered before you sign a work authorization. Keep the adjuster's name and every reference number. Our Washington insurance article covers this in more depth, and it is general information rather than advice — your declarations page governs.
When to call a professional immediately
More than a small area affected. Water of any category that has been sitting more than 24 hours. Sewage or ground water, always. Water that reached wall cavities, insulation, or the subfloor. Anything involving the crawl space, because you cannot see or reach most of it. And anytime it happens in December rather than August, because the drying problem is meaningfully harder. Call {phone} and we will connect you with a registered local pro. If growth has already started by the time you find it, start with flood and water-damage mold.