You’re comfortable at home. You’re enjoying a nice cup of tea. Then, it happens. A pipe bursts. Or, the power goes out? The hot water tank goes on the fritz. Now what?
Those repairs cost a lot of money. Here’s how to manage it all without going insane.
What To Do In Case Of A Wild Animal Invasion
This one happens more often than you would think.
A squirrel or raccoon, or some other wild animal might not seem like a catastrophic thing. But, these critters can do a lot of damage. And, you might have to call in a wildlife removal service if you’re dealing with an endangered species (even if you’re not dealing with an endangered species).
First of all, you need to isolate the rodent by closing all doors and exit points in the house and then open just one window (or door). You could also use Creativesafetysupply tapes to seal up any entrances that you think wouldn’t stay closed on their own or to seal off a room without a door.
The animal is going to eventually find its way out if you make it easy or obvious.
Do not, under any circumstances, try to chase the critter out. It may actually panic or attack you. It might hide (and then you won’t find it). If it crawls into a hidden spot and then poops, you have another problem to clean up. If it has babies, it will go into attack mode to defend them. If it dies, you’ll be smelling it for days or weeks until you find it.
What to do first: Isolate the varmint by closing the doors to all the other rooms in the house. Then open a window. Leave the room and shut the door. The animal will eventually find its way out the window.
Also, don’t let your dog or cat “help” you. They might get injured. Worst case: they could die.
What To Do About Burst Pipes
Let’s say you spring a leak in the house and now it’s like Old Faithful in your house. A gushing plumbing leak can dump several gallons per minute into your house. This is not only going to drive up your water bill, it’s going to flood the house. You have to act fast to stop the water. Calling an emergency plumber is the only way to go here.
If you can stop the flow of water until a plumber arrives, that will help. Shut off the main water valve to the room that’s leaking. Then, shut off the valve to the whole house. Turn n the lowest faucet in the house, which will allow the water to drain out of the faucet instead of through the leak.
Don’t let the water just sit there. Clean it up immediately. The longer things stay wet, the more likely you are to experience permanent water damage. And, that can be very expensive to clean up and fix, if it can be fixed at all.
What To Do During A Kitchen Fire
This is probably more devastating than any other emergency you’re likely to encounter. Not many emergencies will totally destroy your entire life. Even if your house floods, you can usually rebuild it. But, a fire? That’ll reduce everything to ashes almost every time.
Fire makes people panic and do stupid things, too. But, if you react calmly and quickly, you should be in the clear. If it’s something small, like a toaster fire, unplug the cord and use an ABC dry chemical fire extinguisher. You can also pour baking soda on it in a pinch.
If it’s a stovetop fire, turn the burner off and smother the flames with baking soda or putting a lid on the pan.
Or, you can do nothing. If it’s an oven fire, do not open the door. You’ll only feed the flames. Instead, shut off the gas, if it’s a gas oven, and unplug it if it’s an electric oven (if you can).
Just keep the door closed and turn off the heat. The fire will extinguish itself.
The worst move you could make is to throw water on any grease fire. The splash could cause the fat (grease) to splatter and burn you, and spread the fire.
Also, never carry a burning pan outside. This can cause a full-on house fire if any of the burning grease spills anywhere and catches something (anything) else on fire.
Imogen Harding has worked in the claims department of the insurance industry for several years. She finds that many claims could have been prevented if homeowners had only known what to do. She takes the time to blog on the subject, her articles appearing on DIY, homeowner and other relevant sites.
1 comment
Also, do not forget that anything can happen and your loved one may need prompt evacuation. My family took care of that, too, and we bought evacuation chairs, so you can read more about it here https://evac-chair.com/ . We do not know when we can expect trouble, the main thing is to be prepared for everything!