The most common places to store your precious belongings are in attics and basements. These also happen to be the places that are typically hit first and hardest with water damage. Attics will receive a beating if you have a leaky roof and basements have countless causes for flooding. So if you have a home in Layton that is low on storage space, what are your options for keeping your belongings safe from water damage? Swift Restore has some tips for keeping your things safe.

Use Containers

The best way to protect your things is to use plastic containers to store them. Many people keep their items stored in moving boxes, which are typically made from cardboard, but this could put your things at risk. Moving boxes should be used to move the items in your home that you are simply transferring from a commonly used space to another, like clothes or pots and pans. Things that are going to be stored for a long period of time, such as holiday decorations or family heirlooms, should be stored in plastic containers to keep moisture, bugs, and rodents out. Even if your basement floods , your things will be well protected up to a certain water level.

Photographs

Many people have a library of digital photo files, but there are still many hardcopy photographs out there that need to be protected. If a photo gets into contact with water, the colors will bleed and they will stick to each other. Water damage can completely destroy irreplaceable photographs in minutes. However, if you store photos together with a piece of tissue paper between them, you can reduce them sticking to each other when there is other moisture in the air. You should also have them up high on a shelf in a sealed container to make sure they don’t come in contact with flood water.

Stay Off the Ground

One easy way to keep your stored items from getting water damage is to keep them stored up off of the ground. You can put boxes on pallets or install shelving in your storage area. Either is a great way to keep your items off the ground and away from standing water that may pool in your basement. If you install shelving to the walls, make sure you screw into the studs. If you are storing heavy items, it could damage the drywall. If you are putting bookcases in your storage area, make sure you anchor them to the wall to avoid tipping.

Dehumidifiers

If your basement or attic has a lot of moisture in the air, you may want to invest in a dehumidifier. Flooding occurs occasionally and can be cleaned up fairly quickly, but water damage can come from constant moisture in the air. To avoid mold, mildew, bowing, and other water damage, a dehumidifier is the most effective tool for long-term issues.

If you have found water damage in any area of your home, make sure you call a certified and insured professional water remediation team to get the damage cleaned up and repaired before it becomes a much larger problem. If you are in the Layton area, you can rely on the swift work of the professionals at Swift Restoration to help you.