Cleaning up after a sewer flood

We offer a free clean-up service for internal and external sewer floods – here’s what you can expect when we visit.

Internal floods

We aim to carry out internal clean-ups within 12 hours of the flood being reported.

What we will do

We will help with the removal of litter, as well as disinfecting and drying the affected area. Once thoroughly dried, you will be able to use the affected area again.

We clean up when we first respond to the incident, but if we’re busy, we may need to complete it the following day. We may also ask specialists to help us clean up.

What you should do

You should check with your insurance company before removing any furniture. They may want you to keep any affected items for examination by a loss adjuster.

It may be useful to record details of the damage with photographs or on video.

External floods

We aim to carry out external clean-ups within 24 hours of the flood being reported.

What we will do

We will disinfect hard surfaces, such as paths, patios and drives, but we don’t normally disinfect lawns and borders as this can kill plants and do more harm than good. We may need to return to clean these areas thoroughly when the ground has dried out.

We may replace turf, gravel or other garden surfaces as necessary. Most contaminants are on or near the surface and will be exposed to the sun’s ultraviolet radiation, which is effective in killing bacteria. We will let you know how long this may take when we do the clean-up.

What you should do

We recommend keeping off affected hard surfaces until they have been disinfected and dried out. They are usually fine to use the next day.

You should avoid using affected areas of lawn, borders or gravel for long enough to allow the sewage to decay naturally. This usually takes a month, but we will let you know how long we think it will take when we do the clean-up.

If you need to access the area, you should take precautions – we can advise you of these when we visit.