My neighbour or a washing machine has flooded my flat. What should I do with my things?

You’re coming back home and you’re walking in on nasty surprise – your flat has been flooded. Maybe you are the one to blame for this, maybe it’s one of your neighbours – but a more important question is: how many things can you still save before they get soaked? It’s very useful to know what to do in a situation like this, where to report the whole incident… and whether there is a place where you can store your belongings until your flat gets dry and refurbished.

A neighbour has flooded my flat – what should I do?

Unfortunately, such incidents happen rather unexpectedly. You’re coming back to your flat and you notice puddles of water on the floor or water dripping down your walls. The worst thing you can do is getting into panic mode. First of all, you should make sure that walking into the flat is even safe. Unfortunately, the combination of water and electricity can be quite dangerous. Under no circumstances should you walk on water if you suspect that cables and wires have been soaked.

The most important thing is to remove the source of the problem – it might be a broken washing machine hose, clogged up toilet, bath or sink or a pipe that has been drilled through by your neighbour. Rarely does it happen that the main valve is broken. Therefore, you should do anything you can to stop the water level from rising. Shut down the main valve or tell your neighbour about the malfunction that you’ve noticed.

In blocks of flats, getting the apartment flooded by a neighbour happens most often in the summer and it is the most common cause for property damage. Damage caused by water is one of the top reasons why people get their insurance compensation, so it is important to think about it before it ever happens. It will make it easier to get the financial compensation and you won’t have to worry about the safety of your belongings.

A standard procedure in such a case is to report the incident to your insurance agent. They will send a qualified person to your place, who will calculate all the losses and start the insurance procedure. This way, you will get the money to pay for the renovation and drying out of your flat.

How long does it take to dry out your flat after a flood?

Unfortunately, drying out a flat is a process that requires special equipment and professional assistance. If you want to reduce property damage as much as possible, you should get professional help. The time necessary to dry out a flat depends on the level of dampness. If the flooding is not serious, a few days might be enough, but in case of some more serious damage, you might even need a few weeks – especially if the water soaked into deeper layers of the building’s structure. Not only do you need to take care of the aesthetic aspects of your place, but also remember about the security.

If you look into it more carefully, it might turn out that the damage is not as serious as you thought at first. First of all, you need to save the objects that haven’t been badly damaged or touched by water. You should leave the flooded flat as quickly as possible. But where can you store your stuff if your basement is full of things and you don’t have a spare storage place?

Use self storage while your flat is drying out

Renting storage units is very popular in the West. In Poland, individual clients have also been interested in this solution for quite some time. New houses or blocks of flats are often designed without basements or attics, and the storage cells that they have are usually rather small. It lowers the property price, but extra storage space may really come in handy – even if it’s used temporarily.

With self storage you have the opportunity to rent some extra space, where you can store your belongings while your flat is drying out. You can rent it for shorter and longer periods. The size of your unit depends on your needs and requirements. The units may be located in various parts of a town – in Warsaw, for example, there are four different locations, so you can choose one of them. What’s more, Less Mess Storage branches can also be found in Cracow (2 branches), the Tricity (2 branches), Poznań (2 branches) and in Wrocław (one branch). You can check the prices for each location at lessmess.storage.

If you want to pack up your things quickly efficiently after your flat has been flooded, you can use additional services available at Less Mess Storage. In every branch you can buy cardboard boxes and packing accessories. You can also have them delivered to your door if you order at eKartony.pl. It will make it easier to rescue your belongings and you’ll be able to transport things quickly to a storage unit, where they will wait until the flat is dry and renovated.

You can still have unlimited access to your things after a flood

If your flat got flooded because of the washing machine, a neighbour or a broken pipe, you will probably pack up most of your things as quickly as possible into a box and transfer them to the nearest storage. But what if one of the boxes contains important things that you need at the moment? No problem – you can access your storage unit any time. The storage units are open to our customers 24/7. Also, you don’t need to worry that any stranger will be able to look through to your things, as you will get a personal access code.  There’s no need to make any appointment to access your stuff – you can consider it your private space.

There is 24/7 video surveillance on-site. We have alarm systems that immediately signal any unauthorised entry to Less Mess Storage rooms and every unit is equipped with a separate security system. As a Less Mess Storage customer, you have your individual access code and a padlock to guarantee that you are the only person who can access your things.