Should I call my insurance company before I start cleanup?

Call your insurer as soon as the immediate emergency is under control, ideally within the first few hours. Most policies require prompt notice, and waiting can give the carrier grounds to dispute the claim. That said, you do not need to wait for an adjuster to arrive before starting water extraction; most adjusters expect mitigation to begin immediately and will ask for documentation of what you did, not why you waited.

How quickly does mold actually start growing after water damage?

Under the right conditions, warm temperature, organic material like drywall or wood, and sustained moisture, mold spores can begin to colonize within 24 to 48 hours. Visible growth may not appear for several days, but the process starts earlier than most people expect. This is why drying needs to begin within the first day, not after the weekend.

My floors feel dry but there is a musty smell. Does that mean mold is already growing?

A musty or earthy odor after water damage is a strong indicator that microbial activity has started, even if surfaces feel dry to the touch. Moisture trapped inside walls, under flooring, or in insulation does not evaporate on its own and will not register on a simple touch test. A moisture meter or thermal imaging camera is the only reliable way to confirm whether materials are truly dry.

Can I stay in my home while water damage is being dried out?

In most cases, yes, as long as the affected area is isolated and the electrical system in that zone has been cleared. The drying equipment is noisy and runs continuously, which can be disruptive, but it is not a health hazard for a standard clean-water loss. If the damage involves sewage contamination, significant mold growth, or structural concerns, a professional should assess whether the space is safe to occupy before you remain in it.

What To Do in the First 24 Hours After Water Damage

If water has entered your home, the clock starts immediately. Mold can begin colonizing wet materials within 24 to 48 hours, and structural damage compounds the longer water sits. Here is what to do right now: shut off the water source if you can, cut power to affected rooms at the breaker, document everything with photos before you move anything, and start removing standing water with whatever you have on hand, towels, a wet-vac, buckets. The steps below walk through each phase in order.

Step 1: Stop the Water and Make the Space Safe

Before anything else, find the source.

Burst pipe or supply line: Turn off the main shutoff valve. In most Midland homes it is at the meter near the street or at a valve behind the washing machine or under a sink. If you are not sure where yours is, now is a good time to find it, before you need it again.
Appliance failure (water heater, dishwasher, refrigerator ice maker): Pull the appliance away from the wall and close the braided supply line valve behind it.
Roof or window intrusion: You cannot stop rain, but you can limit spread. Lay towels along baseboards, move furniture off wet carpet, and place plastic sheeting under ceiling fixtures that are dripping.

Once the water source is controlled, go to your electrical panel and switch off the breakers for any room that has standing water or wet walls. Water and live outlets are a serious combination. Do not re-enter a room with standing water until the power is confirmed off.

Step 2: Document Before You Touch Anything

Your insurance claim lives or dies on documentation. Spend five minutes here before you start cleanup, it will save hours of argument later.

Open your phone and shoot video, walking through the affected rooms and narrating what you see. Describe the source, the extent of wet flooring, and any belongings that are damaged.
Take still photos at floor level, at wall level, and from the doorway so adjusters can see the full scope.
Note the time and date on your photos, most phones do this automatically in the metadata, but say it aloud in the video as well.
If you have a recent home inventory (photos of furniture, electronics, appliances), pull it up now so you have a baseline for contents claims.

Do not throw away damaged materials before an adjuster has seen them or given you written permission. Wet drywall, flooring samples, and ruined belongings are evidence.

Step 3: Remove Standing Water and Wet Materials

Every hour water sits, it migrates further, under baseboards, into wall cavities, beneath subfloor. Start extraction as soon as the space is electrically safe.

What you can do yourself:

Wet-dry shop vac: run it continuously over hard floors, emptying as needed.
Mops and towels on hard surfaces.
Lift area rugs and carry them outside. Wet rugs left on hardwood or laminate will cause secondary damage to the floor underneath within hours.
Open windows and interior doors to increase airflow, but only if the outdoor humidity is lower than the indoor humidity. In West Texas, afternoon air is typically dry enough that this helps. On an unusually humid day, keep windows closed and run the air conditioner instead.
Place box fans at floor level blowing across wet surfaces, not blowing into walls.

What requires professional equipment:

Water that has wicked up into drywall more than a few inches. The surface may feel dry while the interior stays saturated, a moisture meter is the only reliable way to know.
Water under hardwood or engineered wood flooring. You may not see it, but you will hear it: a soft, spongy feel underfoot or a faint crackling when you walk. Drying this correctly requires desiccant dehumidifiers and floor mats, not just fans.
Any water that touched sewage or backed up through a floor drain. That is a Category 3 loss and requires protective equipment and antimicrobial treatment, not a DIY situation.

What NOT to Do in the First 24 Hours

Some well-meaning actions make water damage worse or complicate your claim.

Do not use a standard household vacuum. A regular vacuum is not designed for water and can damage the motor or create an electrical hazard.
Do not run ceiling fans in a room with a wet ceiling. If water has pooled above the drywall, a ceiling fan can pull it down or cause the fixture to short.
Do not crank the heat. Warm, humid air speeds mold growth. Keep the thermostat at a normal setting and let dehumidifiers do the work.
Do not peel back flooring or open walls without photographing first. You may need to do this eventually, but document before you demo.
Do not sign anything from a restoration company that shows up uninvited. Assignment-of-benefits agreements and emergency authorization forms should be read carefully. Call your insurance company before signing documents you did not request.

When to Call a Water Damage Professional

Some water events are genuinely manageable with a mop and fans. A slow drip caught early on a tile floor is one of them. Most are not.

Call a professional restoration company when:

The water has been sitting for more than a few hours before you discovered it.
The affected area is larger than roughly 10 square feet of flooring.
Water has reached drywall, insulation, cabinets, or subfloor.
You smell anything musty, that odor means microbial activity has already started.
The source was a toilet, drain backup, or any water that was not clean supply-line water.
Your home was built before the mid-1980s and has popcorn ceilings or textured walls, wet older materials may contain asbestos and should not be disturbed without testing.

A professional crew brings truck-mounted extractors, thermal imaging cameras to find hidden moisture, and commercial-grade desiccant dehumidifiers that remove far more moisture per hour than anything available at a hardware store. The drying logs they generate are also what insurance adjusters use to verify that the work was done correctly.

If you are in Midland or the surrounding Permian Basin area and the situation is beyond what you can manage, ACS Enterprise can assess the damage and walk you through next steps. Reach them at (432) 847-4704.

The Longer Recovery: What Happens After Day One

Even after visible water is gone, the job is not finished. Professional drying typically takes three to five days depending on materials and ambient conditions. Midland’s low relative humidity is actually an advantage here, dry West Texas air accelerates evaporation when equipment is set up correctly.

During the drying phase, expect:

Daily moisture readings logged at multiple points in the affected area.
Dehumidifiers and air movers running continuously, they are loud, and they will be there for days.
Some drywall or flooring may need to be removed to allow wall cavities to dry. This is called “flood cuts” and is standard practice, not unnecessary damage.

After drying is confirmed, reconstruction begins: new drywall, paint, flooring, and any cabinetry that could not be saved. Keep all invoices, drying logs, and correspondence with your insurer in one folder, digital or physical, because supplement claims and disputes can arise weeks after the initial loss.

The first 24 hours are the most consequential. Acting quickly and methodically limits both the physical damage and the paperwork headache that follows.