Sewage clean up is nasty. There’s no way to sugar coat it. Raw sewage and the cleaning process involved are messy, smelly, and dangerous. Nobody wants to have a water damage loss that involves sewage, but it happens anyway. There are many reasons it can happen. It can be as simple as a child flushing an item that shouldn’t be in the toilet to as big as your main sewer pipe being clogged. All of these things cause a very messy situation.
So what should you do if you have sewage damage? First off, stay out of it and keep others away from it. Sewage damage is considered a category 3 water loss which means it is filled with bacteria and other pathogens. These pathogens are very dangerous to your health. This is why a water damage professional will wear PPE (personal protective equipment) whenever they deal with sewage damage. This protective equipment makes sure that the water damage professional does not come in contact with any of the sewage.
The next thing you should do after keeping others away from it is to call a professional. You may think you can do sewage clean up on your own, but this is usually not the case. Sewage contains bacteria that can live through the use of most standard household cleaners. This means that products like bleach won’t kill the bacteria and definitely won’t keep it from spreading. On top of not having the right cleaner, if sewage gets into a porous material it usually cannot be saved. This means that you will need to remove the material and replace it. If you do not know what types of materials can be cleaned during a sewage clean up then you may also be helping keep the pathogens in your home. A water damage professional’s equipment will also keep the area contained so that your sewer damage doesn’t spread to other areas of your home.
A water damage professional should be able to tell you what can and can’t be saved. Plus they can help you find a way to get this dirty job covered by your home insurance. There may be times when you can handle sewage clean up on your own but it is not normal. Call your water damage professional and have them come out to do a free evaluation. It never hurts to get a second opinion when you’re dealing with the safety of your home and family.
