If your home has been flooded and you’ve found all your important papers and photos affected by water damage, don’t be discouraged. It may not seem like it, but your important papers and valuable family photos can be salvaged. Here’s how!
Saving Papers After Water Damage
Important papers may include birth certificates, contracts, letters, marriage certificates, tax returns, and more. You’ll definitely want to save them after water damage because replacing them is a pain.
To do that, the first step is to move the papers carefully to a dry area. This must be done ASAP to prevent them from getting more and more soaked. The next step is to separate each sheet of paper and place them onto paper towels. Then, take them out and put them under the sun. The paper towels must be plain, otherwise any design or color will be transferred to your papers.
If you want to save your wet books, place plain paper towels in between the pages (20 at a time) and lay it flat so the pages can breathe. On both cases, the paper towels must be replaced regularly to speed up the drying process. It’s also recommended you place paperweights on the corners of your papers so they don’t curl up. And you can use fans as well, just make sure you direct it up and away from the papers.
This is what you can do immediately after you discover your papers have been exposed to water damage. However, if you can’t do anything right away, you can take your wet papers, put them into Ziploc bags and freeze them to prevent further deterioration or mold growth.
Saving Photos After Water Damage
Your loose photos, photo albums and framed photos can all be affected by water damage.
Loose photos are already separated, which means you can handle them more quickly. Take them to a dry area and start with the ones that don’t have negatives. Clean them gently with cool water so you can get rid of any dirt. Don’t rub the photos and replace the water when it gets dirty enough. Then, place the photos face up on plain paper towels, and wait for them to dry. Don’t place them under the sun, and make sure you replace the paper towels regularly. If you can’t handle them right away, then take the photos, put them in Ziploc bags, and freeze them.
When it comes to photo albums, you’ll need to get them to a dry place right away and remove the photos so you can go through the same process explained above. If you find photos that are stuck together, you need to pull them apart carefully, and do your best not to touch the wet surface of the photos.
To save your wet framed photos you’ll want to handle them while they’re wet because once they dry they will be stuck. So, carefully remove the photos from the frames and air dry them following the process for loose photos. If the photos are stuck to the glass, air dry them with the glass facing down!
Call Classic Handyman @ 847-651-5847 for more tips!
