What to do after water damage, in order

Do not use a household vacuum on water, walk through sewage, or run ceiling fans under a wet ceiling. Do not throw away damaged items before they have been recorded. Then read how long drying takes.

Make sure everyone is safe, then stop the water if you can do so without risk. After that, photograph everything, tell your insurer, and start removing water and drying. The order matters, because a few minutes spent on safety and the valve can spare you far more trouble later, and because photos are easiest to take before things are moved.

You do not need to work out the whole job today. You need to answer four questions: Is it safe to be here? Is water still coming in? What did it touch, and what kind of water is it? Who has to know? The sections below deal with each of these, along with some specific situations that change the order.

How you respond should depend on whether the water is clean. A broken supply line or a sink overflow is often clean at first. A washing machine overflow carries soil and detergent. Sewage, river water and floodwater are contaminated, so stay out, keep fans off and leave the cleanup to people with protective equipment.

If you aren't sure, assume the worse possibility. EPA's clean-water steps stop applying once sewage or other pollutants could be involved, and it warns against using fans until the water is known to be clean. Also, clean water does not always stay clean, and the categories guide explains how that works.

If your water supply may be affected, as can happen in a flood, ask the water utility or health officials if it is drinkable. EPA says to bring water to a rolling boil for one full minute to disinfect it (three minutes above 5,280 feet) if you are under a boil advisory, and warns not to use a flooded well until it has been tested and is safe.

Once it is safe, take the things most likely to be harmed out of the way. Lift furniture off wet carpet, or slide foil, plastic or blocks under the legs. Take rugs off wet floors, as dye can bleed. Pick up curtains and fabric that touch the floor. Remove books, photos and papers from damp shelves. Store them in a dry room and keep them separate from one another if they are wet.

EPA has a useful note for paper: valuable books and documents can be frozen to buy time, either in a frost-free freezer or at a storage locker, until someone can treat them. Photograph or copy anything important. EPA also says to consider a restoration specialist for items that are valuable or irreplaceable, or that have sentimental value.

Do not plug in or turn on wet electronics or appliances. Take them to a dry place only if you can do so safely, and leave them unplugged until someone has checked them. Keep damaged items for the insurer. Texas and Oregon regulators both say to hold on to them until your insurer has seen them or says otherwise. Spoiled food or sewage-soaked items should be photographed and then handled safely.

Look up first. A ceiling that has water above it can come down, so a bulge or sag means the room is off limits. A small hole to relieve pressure is something trained people may do, but it can bring the whole ceiling down on you. Move what you can from outside the danger zone, and keep people out of the room.

Next, check the floors. Hardwood can cup or swell quickly, and laminate can trap water beneath a surface that looks almost fine. Carpet often soaks farther than it seems; press a paper towel on it to find the edge. The wet carpet guide goes into that decision, and the wet drywall guide covers walls.

Then look at the walls. Baseboards are the early warning system. If they are swollen, soft or pulling away, water has probably reached behind them. Mark any wet line in pencil with the date, so you can see whether it's growing.

Your region shapes which water problems are most likely and how drying goes. See Oregon, Connecticut, Delaware, Kansas, Louisiana, New Hampshire, Chicago, Dallas, Colorado Springs, Cedar Hill, Lake Stevens, Norcross, Port Charlotte, Prosper, Atlanta, Indianapolis.