What to do in the first hour after a burst pipe

In the first hour after a burst pipe, shut the water off, turn off electricity to any wet rooms, photograph the damage, leave household fans off, and call for emergency water removal. Those five steps do more for the house and the claim than anything you can mop.

The shutoff in a Miami house is usually the meter at the front, a valve beside the water heater, or both. In a condo, use the unit shutoff as well as the fixture's angle stop. If you cannot find it, call us and stay on the phone. Water that keeps running while you look for towels is the expensive kind.

If water reached outlets, switches, or the air handler, shut the breaker for that area. Do not stand in water and flip a wet switch with a bare hand. After power is safe, take photos of every wet room, including rooms that only look a little dark at the baseboard. Then stop moving furniture except to get people out of the wet path.

Do not run box fans. They push wet air into dry rooms and into wall cavities. Leave the air conditioner on a moderate setting only if the unit itself is dry. Burst supply line cleanup once the valve is shut is extraction and targeted openings, not a home-fan project.

Put foil or plastic under furniture legs so they do not stain the wet carpet, and do not throw wet materials out before they are photographed. Carriers ask for those pictures. If the water is from a drain or a toilet bowl, stay out of it and treat it as contaminated.

Miami humidity is why the first hour is not optional. How long until mold starts in a Miami house is 24 to 48 hours on wet gypsum. Call (305) 390-4900 as soon as the water is off.