The sump pump quit. Here is the order to do things in.

First: the power

If water is anywhere near outlets, the furnace or the panel, kill the power to the basement at the breaker before you go down. Do not walk through standing water with the power on.

Second: the source

A failed pump with the water table rising is a different problem from a burst line. With a burst line, the main shutoff is usually where the water enters the house. With a pump, the water keeps coming until the rain stops or the pump runs again.

Third: photographs, before anything moves

Floors, the water line on the drywall, the pump, the furnace, the boxes on the floor. Your insurance adjuster reads photographs first. Chuck writes the scope the way insurers read it, and the photographs are the scope.

Fourth: the water out and the air moving

The wet drywall comes off along the bottom of the wall, the carpet and pad come out, and the drying equipment runs on the bare slab. The room looks worse before it looks better. That is the honest starting point for a rebuild that lasts.

Fifth: the rebuild

Drywall, trim, paint, and the floor that runs through the doorways into the next room, so nobody can tell where the water was. How a water damage restoration goes, and how the claim is handled.

Call or text Chuck at (443) 252-1581. Text a photo first if that is easier; it is often enough to tell you the next step. Based in Forest Hill, serving Harford, Baltimore and Cecil counties and Baltimore City.