House Flooded? What to Do Next
Clean-Up, Repair & Prevention

First steps when your house has flooded

The first hour back in a flooded house matters more than any product or contractor. Most of the damage is already done, but three things can still go wrong: someone gets an electric shock, the evidence your insurer needs is shovelled out with the mud, or wet walls are sealed up before they have dried. The short list below is the order to follow before any cleaning starts.

1. Keep the main switch off. TNB's flood advice is to switch off the main switch at the distribution board when water enters, and to keep it off after the flood while you clean.
2. Do not touch anything electrical that has been under water, including cables, even if they are insulated. If the water is rising, call TNB CareLine 15454 so the supply to the area can be cut.
3. Switch off solar PV if the house has it, so it cannot feed power back into the house wiring.
4. Take photos and video before you move anything: the water line on the walls, every room, damaged furniture and appliances, and the outside of the house. Your insurer will ask what was damaged, and the mud-out destroys that record.
5. Wear boots and gloves. Floodwater is dirty water, not rain water, and the mud it leaves behind is dirty too.

Which page do you need?

Floods leave people with a dozen questions at once. Find the line that matches where you are today and start with that guide; each one links on to the next step.

Pillar 1: cleaning up after the flood

Clean-up is the stage people most want to rush, and the one where rushing costs the most later. It has five parts, roughly in this order. First the mud and silt come out while they are still soft: our guide to removing mud and silt covers the tools and why you never hose mud into the floor traps. Then come the hard decisions about what to keep, covered in keep or throw after a flood: soaked mattresses, upholstery and particleboard usually cannot be saved, while solid timber, metal and glass often can.

Hard surfaces are then washed and disinfected, because floodwater carries sewage; disinfecting a house after a flood explains which products to use and which ones must never be mixed. After that the house has to dry properly, which takes far longer than it looks: drying out a flooded house explains airflow, dehumidifiers and how to tell when a wall is really dry. Finally, if spots have already appeared behind the skirting or inside cabinets, mould after a flood covers where it starts and how it is removed.

Pillar 2: repair and renovation

Repairs start only when the structure is dry. Putting paint, skirting or new flooring onto a wet wall traps the water inside and the finish fails within months. The order of works guide linked above sets out the full sequence; the guides below go deep on each surface.

• Walls: brick and plaster are usually dried out, not removed, while soaked gypsum board normally comes out. See flood-damaged walls: dry out, hack off or re-plaster.
• Paint: white salts and blistering appear when a wall is painted too early. See repainting after a flood for when to paint and which primer to use.
• Floors: hollow tiles, swollen laminate and vinyl with water trapped underneath each need a different answer. See flood-damaged floors.
• The bigger rebuild: if the ground floor needs renovating anyway, it is the moment to choose materials and layouts that cope better next time. See renovating after a flood.

Pillar 3: preventing the next flood

Once the house is back in use, the question becomes how to keep the water out, or at least how to make the next flood less damaging. The checklist and the flood-barrier guide in the table above are the starting points. Three more guides cover the specific problems behind repeat flooding:

• Water that rises from a low porch, basement or lift pit: sump pumps and drainage.
• Water that gets in through doors, sliding tracks and walls in heavy rain: where rainwater comes into the house.
• A house that sits below the road: raising the ground floor, including the approvals involved.

Electricity and appliances: advice, not DIY

Electricity is the one part of a flood clean-up where a mistake can kill. TNB's flood advice is clear on the basics: keep the main switch off while you clean, do not touch equipment or cables that have been under water, and do not switch submerged appliances back on to see whether they still work.

Before the house is re-energised, submerged switches, sockets, wiring and appliances must be inspected and tested by an electrical contractor registered with Suruhanjaya Tenaga. That contractor decides what can be reused and what must be replaced. If water reached the distribution board, tell them so when you book.

Health and safety during clean-up

Floodwater mixes rain with drain and sewage water, so treat everything it touched as contaminated until it has been washed and disinfected. Wear boots, gloves and long sleeves, keep children and pets out while the mud is being removed, and wash your hands before eating. Anyone with a wound should keep it covered and out of the water.

Malaysian health guidance on flood clean-up was not reachable when this page was written, so the practical references here are from the US Environmental Protection Agency. Its flooded-homes guidance lists mould and bacteria, mosquitoes and generator hazards among the dangers in a flooded home. It also warns that removing deep standing water too quickly can crack walls and floors, and that everything must be completely dry before walls and floors are refinished. If you feel unwell after a flood clean-up, see a doctor and say that you have been in floodwater.

Insurance and records

Do not assume your policy covers flood. Reporting on Bank Negara Malaysia's Financial Stability Review after the December 2021 floods said significant gaps remain in flood insurance and takaful protection, particularly among households. Sources disagree on what a standard houseowner or householder policy includes, so the only reliable answer is your own policy schedule: look for flood or special perils, and call your insurer or agent before the clean-up crew arrives.

For a flood claim, the evidence has to exist before the strip-out: photos, a list of damaged items and, for larger jobs, a contractor's written report. The documentation guide in the table above covers that in detail. For leaks and burst pipes rather than floods, see the water damage insurance claim guide, and for what home cover is in general, the home insurance guide.

Who to contact for what

After a flood it is easy to call the wrong people first. This table lists who handles what.

Flood warnings and the monsoon season

In the Klang Valley a flood can come with the northeast monsoon or with a sudden afternoon storm. Two official sources are worth bookmarking before the next storm: JPS Public InfoBanjir shows live river levels and rainfall from monitoring stations, and MetMalaysia issues heavy-rain warnings and the seasonal outlook. If you live in an area that has flooded before, a warning is the time to move valuables and appliances up, switch off at the main switch before leaving, and close any flood boards.

How ClickBina helps

ClickBina is an experienced KL & Selangor contractor, and our crew handles the physical work across all three pillars: mud-out and cleaning, disinfection, debris and furniture disposal, drying, wall and floor repairs, repainting, renovation and prevention installs such as flood boards. We do the non-electrical work.

Testing and re-energising the electrics must be done by an electrical contractor registered with Suruhanjaya Tenaga. Whole-house refurbishment and trade coordination is part of what we do, so one team can take a flooded ground floor from mud-out to handover.

WhatsApp us your area, the property type and what the flood damaged, and we reply within the hour.

Sources & references

• TNB press release S.A. 2021/11/131, Panduan Keselamatan Elektrik Semasa Musim Tengkujuh — main switch, CareLine 15454, submerged equipment, solar PV, and testing by an electrical contractor registered with Suruhanjaya Tenaga before reuse.
• US EPA: Flooded Homes Cleanup Guidance — the hazards in a flooded home (a US source, used where no Malaysian page could be reached).
• US EPA: Doing it yourself — removing standing water cautiously and drying completely before refinishing.
• The Edge, reporting BNM's Financial Stability Review — gaps in household flood insurance and takaful protection after the December 2021 floods.
• JPS Public InfoBanjir and MetMalaysia — official flood and weather warnings (linked above).

How we wrote this: this hub gives no prices and no fixed timings; each linked guide covers its own step in depth. Electrical advice follows TNB's published flood guidance.