How do I dispose of flood-damaged belongings?

The instinct after a flood is to get everything out of the house immediately, and the instinct is right about the timing and wrong about the order. Contaminated soft material genuinely has to go, and quickly, because it holds sewage and starts to grow mould within a couple of days. But an insurance claim is built entirely from the record you make in the first day, and belongings taken to the tip before anyone photographed them are effectively gone from the claim as well as from the house.

Safety

What you'll need

• Waterproof gloves, boots and a mask
• A phone or camera, and somewhere to write a list
• Heavy-duty rubble sacks
• Household disinfectant and detergent
• The council's flood waste collection number (optional)
• A dehumidifier and fans for what stays

Step by step

1. Photograph and video every room before anything moves.Wide shots showing the water line, then close-ups of individual items with any serial numbers. This is the most valuable half hour of the whole clean-up and it cannot be done retrospectively.
2. Write the list as you go, not afterwards.Item, rough age, rough value, and a photograph reference. A phone note is fine. Loss adjusters work from lists and the memory of what was in a cupboard fades within days.
3. Ring the insurer and ask what you may dispose of.Most will authorise disposal of contaminated soft items straight away on the strength of photographs, because leaving them is a health risk. Get that agreement recorded, with a name and a reference.
4. Get the contaminated soft material out first.Carpet and underlay, mattresses, upholstered furniture, soft toys, pillows, chipboard and MDF furniture that has swelled. None of it can be cleaned through, all of it holds contamination, and all of it grows mould quickly.
5. Throw away all food that touched the water.Including tins and sealed jars — the seams and lids are not proof against contaminated water — and anything in a fridge or freezer that has been off. Food is not worth a judgement call after a flood.
6. Keep hard, non-porous items and wash them.Glass, glazed ceramics, metal, solid plastic and solid wood can usually be washed with hot water and detergent and then disinfected. Solid timber furniture is often saveable if it is dried slowly out of direct heat.
7. Set aside anything sentimental rather than deciding under pressure.Photographs, documents and irreplaceable items go into a box, and wet paper goes into the freezer to stop the clock. Never make an irreversible decision about these on the first day.
8. Ring the council before hiring a skip.Most councils run a free flood waste collection and will place bins or arrange kerbside collection. Stacking waste sensibly at the kerb, off the road and away from drains, is usually what they ask.
9. Separate the waste streams if you can.Electricals, fridges and freezers, mattresses and general waste are usually collected separately, even in a flood collection. Asbestos-containing material — some floor tiles, some artex, some garage roofs — must not go in a skip and needs specialist disposal.
10. Clean and disinfect what remains, from the top down.Hose or wash the silt out, then wash surfaces with hot water and detergent, then disinfect. Silt left in place dries to dust that gets breathed in, so get it out while it is still wet.
11. Do not rebuild until the readings say it is dry.Skirtings and plaster come off so the wall behind can dry, and reinstatement waits for moisture readings, not for how it feels. Plastering over a wet wall produces mould and blown plaster within a year.

Tips

• Take a photograph of the water line on each wall with a tape measure against it. Adjusters and contractors both work from it, and it disappears once the walls are stripped.
• White goods that have been submerged are usually written off, but do not scrap them until the insurer has seen them or agreed — photograph the model and serial plate on each one.
• Do not use a pressure washer indoors on contaminated silt. It aerosolises it. Shovel, squeegee and wash it out with a hose at low pressure instead.
• Bleach is not the right tool for everything. A household disinfectant used at the dilution on the label is enough for hard surfaces, and bleach damages many materials and must never be mixed with any acidic or ammonia-based cleaner.
• Keep a diary of the clean-up with dates, names and costs. It is worth a great deal if the claim becomes complicated months later.

Common mistakes

• Skipping everything before it is recorded — An insurer settles what can be evidenced. Photographs and a list take an hour and can be worth thousands.
• Trying to save a mattress or an upholstered sofa — Floodwater carries sewage deep into foam and fillings, and neither cleaning nor drying reaches it. They are a health risk and they are on every insurer's disposal list.
• Keeping tinned food because the tin looks fine — The seams and the lid seal are not designed to resist contaminated water, and labels come off so nothing can be identified afterwards. It all goes.
• Redecorating as soon as it looks dry — Masonry dries at roughly 25mm of thickness per month. A room that feels dry in week six is not, and finishing early is the most expensive mistake in the whole recovery.

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