How to Contend With Water Damaged Papers

When our homes are water damaged due to floods and hurricanes, one of the things that we do not tend to think about until after we come upon them while attempting to restore the house is our documents. Any important documents that we might have in our homes at the time of the storm can be damaged almost irreparably, but there are ways to salvage these documents and store them later for better protection against not only floods, but fires, as well. Knowing how to deal with these documents after they have already become damaged is essential if you want to save them, especially if they are the only copies in existence.

There is no real reason to panic unless you have been away from the water damaged building for more than a couple of days. Most of the time it takes at least 48 hours for mold to start to grow on cellulose-based items like paper and cardboard, so getting to these soaked documents as soon as possible before those 48 hours are up is important. The environment in the building should be around 65 degrees Fahrenheit if you can manage it and the humidity needs to remain as low as possible. Mold loves humidity.

If you have any standing water still in the home, it needs to be removed as soon as possible. Documents lying in standing water need to be taken out of it and put on a flat surface quickly. Remove them carefully, since they can fall apart, depending on the weight of the paper and how long it has set in the water.

Figure out what documents are the most important to you. These should include marriage and birth certificates, death certificates, divorce papers, bank papers, warranties on large appliances, and any other legal documents you may have in your home. If you are a writer, a printed manuscript of a book you are working on is one thing that could be considered invaluable, especially if you do not have it stored on electronic media or if the media you did have it stored on was damaged during the storm. Take other printed materials like this into consideration depending on your own unique circumstances. If these items are not completely soaked in water, then you can possibly just dry them out using a fan or simply laying them out to dry. If they have been under the water for a long period of time, then freezing them and drying them at a local facility is best.

Using freezer wrap to separate watery books and documents from each other when you are packing them to take to the freeze drying company is best. Do not pack things tightly and label every box with your contact information.


Jim Corkern is a writer and promoter of quality
Texas Residential Water Damage Restoration Contractors and
Water Damage Restoration companies across the united states.