What To Do Right Now
Pick what’s happening. Each one covers what to do in the first hour, what makes it worse, and when it stops being something you can handle yourself.
Burst Pipe
A broken supply line puts water into the building at about the rate your shower does, and it does not stop on its own. The first ten minutes decide how much of this is a repair and how much is a rebuild. Work in this order.
What to doWater Heater Failure
A failed tank releases 40 to 80 gallons at once, then keeps refilling and releasing until the supply is closed. Most heaters sit in a garage, a closet, or an upstairs utility room, so the water finds finished space quickly. Close the water and kill the heat source before anything else.
What to doSewage Backup
This is Category 3 water. It carries bacteria, viruses, and parasites, which makes it a health hazard rather than a cleaning problem. Keep people and pets out of the area, stop using water in the building, and do not attempt to clean it yourself.
What to doRoof Leak or Storm Damage
A roof leak reaches the ceiling long after the water got into the building. Right now the job is to keep a saturated ceiling from coming down on someone, and to stop the water from spreading through attic insulation and down inside the walls. Nothing on this page is worth going on a wet roof for.
What to doAppliance Overflow
Appliance leaks get found late, because the water goes under the cabinet and behind the machine before it reaches the floor you walk on. Dishwasher and washing machine discharge is Category 2 water, so treat it as contaminated rather than clean. Close the supply first.
What to doFrozen Pipe
A frozen pipe is two problems at once: no water now, and a break you will not find until it thaws. In the Treasure Valley the worst of it lands on vacant houses, rentals between tenants, cabins, and rooms nobody heats in winter. Shut the main off before you start thawing anything.
What to doAfter a Fire
Two things keep damaging the building after the fire is out: the water the department used to put it out, and the soot. Soot is acidic and begins permanently etching metal, glass, appliance finishes, marble, and grout within 24 to 48 hours. Do not go back inside until the fire department releases the structure.
What to doFound Mold
Mold is a symptom, not the problem. It grows where something has been wet, and it comes back if the moisture source is still there. The single most useful thing you can do right now is leave it undisturbed and go find the water.
What to doAfter the emergency
What people ask next, once the water is off and somebody is on the way.
Local Resources
Where to sleep if the house is unlivable tonight, utility shut-off numbers, replacing ID and records, food assistance, and how Additional Living Expenses works, with current Treasure Valley phone numbers. You do not have to be a Peak customer.
Read itInsurance & Billing
How we document a loss for your adjuster, how supplements work when the scope grows, and how billing runs, plus short answers to the claim questions we get most.
Read itIdaho Mold Guide
Is black mold dangerous, do you need a test or an inspection, whether those dark joists are still growing, what the musty smell actually is, and how remediation gets priced.
Read itIdaho Crawlspace Guide
Why Treasure Valley crawlspaces go wet in May with nothing leaking, how to tell rot from surface growth, and what a home inspector’s mold flag actually means.
Read itIf none of these fit, call and describe it.
We’ll tell you what to do next even if it turns out you don’t need us.