What should I do first when I find water damage?

Make it safe first: stay clear of water near outlets and the furnace, and cut power to the area only if you can reach the breaker safely. Then stop the source if you can, document everything with photos, move valuables up off the floor, and call for help. Avoid sewage water entirely.

Should I clean it up myself or call someone?

For a tiny, clean spill, you can handle it. For a real loss, a flooded basement, a burst pipe, a sewer backup, or water spreading into walls and floors, call a crew. Household tools cannot remove deep moisture, and water left behind grows mold within a day or two.

How quickly do I need to act?

Within hours, not days. Mold can begin in 24 to 48 hours and water keeps spreading the whole time it sits. Fast extraction and drying is what saves materials and limits the cost. Day-or-night response across Aurora means a crew can start before the damage deepens.

Resource Guide

What to Do After Water Damage in Aurora, CO

When you find water in your home, the first hour matters. The right moves protect your safety, limit the damage, and set up your insurance claim, while the wrong ones can make things worse. This guide walks through what to do after water damage in an Aurora home, in order, whether it is a flooded basement, a burst pipe, a swamp cooler leak, or a sewer backup. For an active emergency, call for help while you work through these steps.

First, make it safe

Safety comes before the house. Water and electricity together are deadly, so if water is near outlets, the furnace, the electrical panel, or any wiring, do not wade in. If you can reach the breaker safely and dry, cut power to the affected area; if you cannot, stay out and leave it for the crew or an electrician. Watch your footing on wet floors and stairs, especially in a basement.

If the water came up a floor drain or smells of sewage, treat it as a biohazard. Keep kids and pets well away, avoid skin contact, and do not try to clean it yourself. Sewage carries bacteria and viruses that need protective equipment and proper disinfection.

Stop the water at the source

If the water is coming from inside the house, stopping the source limits the damage. For a burst or leaking pipe, shut off the main water valve, usually where the line enters the basement, then open a low faucet to relieve pressure. For an overflowing fixture, shut its local supply valve. For a rooftop swamp cooler dripping through the ceiling, shut off the cooler's water supply or bleed-off line.

For a sewer backup, stop adding water on your end: no flushing toilets, running sinks, or starting the dishwasher or laundry, since that pushes more water up the backed-up drain. For water coming in from outside during a storm, there is no valve to shut, so focus on safety and moving belongings up while help is on the way.

Protect your home and belongings

Once it is safe and the source is stopped, limit the spread. Move valuables, electronics, documents, and anything that can be carried up off a wet basement floor to a dry, higher level. Lift furniture legs onto foil or blocks if you cannot move the piece. Pull up small rugs that are sitting in water. If it is safe and you have a wet vac rated for water, you can pull up some surface water, but do not use a household vacuum on standing water.

Do not, however, start tearing out materials or running heat to dry things before the damage is documented. And do not paint over a ceiling stain or seal up a wet wall, because trapping moisture grows mold and ruins the repair.

Document everything for your claim

Before cleanup changes the scene, photograph and video the water and the damage from several angles, including the source if you can see it and the high-water line. This documentation is exactly what your insurer and adjuster need, and it is hard to recreate once the water is gone. Keep a written note of when it started and what caused it, and hold onto damaged items until they are recorded, since throwing things out early can weaken the claim.

Then contact your insurer to open a claim, and review whether your loss is the covered kind: a sudden burst pipe usually is, a sewer backup needs a backup endorsement, and creek or storm flooding needs separate flood insurance. The federal Ready.gov flood guidance is a useful general reference on flood safety and recovery.

Call for professional help fast

Water damage is a clock problem. Mold can begin within 24 to 48 hours, materials keep soaking the longer water sits, and a one-room issue becomes a whole-house one. Getting a crew on site quickly for extraction and drying is the single biggest factor in how much of your home is saved and how much the repair costs. An experienced local restoration crew can respond across Aurora day or night, map the moisture you cannot see, and dry the structure to a verified standard.

When you call, describe what happened, where the water is, and how long it has been there, so the crew arrives with the right equipment. For the most common Aurora loss, see basement flooding cleanup, and for the full process, see water damage restoration.