Water damage at the cottage when you arrive: the first 10 things to do

It’s Friday night. You open the cottage door and your feet land on a soaked mat. Or it’s the smell that stops you: damp and heavy, drifting up from the basement. The damage is already done; what matters now is keeping it from growing and keeping a record of everything you see.

What to do right now

1. Don’t put yourself at risk

Before stepping into a flooded room, look at where the water is. If it reaches outlets, appliances, an extension cord or the electrical panel, stay out. If the ceiling is bulging or sagging, don’t stand under it. If you smell gas or propane, get out and call 911 or your gas supplier from outside.

2. Shut off the water at the main valve

The main shut-off is usually where the water line comes through the foundation: in the basement, the crawl space or a utility closet. Close it, even if you don’t yet know where the water is coming from. If the cottage is on a well and the pump breaker is clearly labelled, switch that off too — otherwise the pump keeps feeding the leak.

3. Cut the power only if you can do it with dry feet

If the panel is in a dry area and you don’t have to walk through water to reach it, you can switch off the circuits for the affected rooms. If not, don’t go near it: call a master electrician. A CMEQ member electrician can also check wet circuits before anything is switched back on.

4. Take photos before you move anything

Walk through with your phone: the water line on the walls, the floor, the furniture, the pipe or appliance that looks responsible, the thermostat, the water meter. Wide shots first, then close-ups. Shoot video if that’s easier. These images are the first piece of your claim.

5. Call your insurer or broker

Do it as soon as you can, even late at night — many insurers run a claims line around the clock. Write down the claim number, the name of the person you spoke to and what they asked you to do. Ask before throwing anything out or bringing in a cleanup company.

6. Find the source — without opening walls

Check the usual suspects: under the sinks, the washer hoses, the water heater and its pan, the toilet, the water entry, the sump pump. A split pipe, a burst hose or a trail running down from a ceiling will point the way. Don’t take anything apart: that’s the plumber’s job, and the adjuster may want to see the part where it is.

7. Call an RBQ-licensed plumber

To fix the cause, you need a contractor who holds a licence from the Régie du bâtiment du Québec. You can check a licence online in the RBQ registry. Tell the plumber the water is off and, if you can, send your photos.

8. Get the water out and move what you can

Once the water is off and electricity isn’t a concern, mop up what you can reach, pull up rugs, lift boxes onto shelves and set furniture on blocks. Put documents and anything you care about somewhere dry. Keep damaged items until your insurer tells you what to do with them.

9. Start drying — without sealing the moisture in

Open windows if the weather allows, open cabinet doors, keep the heat at a moderate setting. Health Canada advises fixing the cause of the water and drying wet surfaces within 48 hours, to limit mould. Swollen drywall, soaked insulation, saturated carpet: these usually need to be assessed by a building professional or a disaster-restoration company, in agreement with your insurer.

10. Keep a log

On paper or in your phone: when you arrived, what you saw, who you called, claim numbers, receipts (a motel, a rented dehumidifier, extra trips). Water damage claims often drag on; the log saves you from rebuilding everything from memory.

Why it happens — especially at a Townships cottage

Water runs a long time when nobody’s there. In a lived-in house, someone hears a hiss or spots a stain that evening. At a cottage that sits empty from Monday to Friday, or for a month at a stretch, the same leak has all the time it wants.

Freeze, then thaw. A pipe that froze during a cold snap can split and only start leaking when it thaws. That’s why so much water damage turns up after a January mild spell or in spring.

The well never lets up. In Sutton, Potton or Frelighsburg, plenty of cottages run on a well. As long as the pump has power, it keeps the pressure up and keeps feeding the leak.

Snowmelt finds the basement. In spring, meltwater heads for the low point. A sump pump that’s stopped, a disconnected downspout or a lot that slopes toward the house can wet a basement with no pipe involved at all.

Prevention: what you can do, and what belongs to a plumber

What an owner can do:

• Find the main shut-off, label it, and check in the fall that it turns.
• Shut the water off when the cottage will sit empty for a long stretch, if your plumber recommends it for your system.
• Replace tired washer hoses with braided ones, and check the water heater pan.
• Keep downspouts connected and pointed away from the foundation.
• Put a leak sensor near the water heater and the washer — knowing that a connected alert goes quiet when the power or the internet goes down.

What belongs to an RBQ-licensed contractor:

• Installing an automatic shut-off valve on the water line.
• Replacing a water heater at the end of its life or a corroded fitting.
• Insulating or rerouting pipes exposed to the cold.
• Checking or restoring electrical circuits that got wet (master electrician).

In an empty house, how long before anyone notices?

Nobody sees water rising at an empty cottage. Damage you find on a Friday may have started the day after you last left. The longer water sits, the further it gets into floors, lower walls and insulation, and the more time mould has to take hold — Health Canada puts the marker at 48 hours to dry a wet surface.

How often someone stops by sets the maximum length of any damage. Many insurance policies also set conditions for a home left unoccupied. Conditions vary from one insurer to the next: reread your policy or ask your broker what applies to your cottage.

What we look at on a visit

Every visit, we check the position of the main shut-off, look at the incoming water line and its fittings, and read and log the water meter or well pressure gauge with all taps closed, to catch water use nothing explains. We open the cabinets under the sinks, look at the water heater pan, and run a flashlight over the basement floor and lower walls. Every finding is photographed and time-stamped in the report.

If we find water, we call you the same day, with photos, close the main valve if that’s what we agreed, and meet an RBQ-licensed plumber on site if needed, documenting the work.