Washing Machine Flooded? What to Do and Who to Call

If your washing machine flooded, turn off the two water valves behind it, cut the power to the laundry area at the breaker, photograph the water, and get it off the floor right away. Then check where it went. Water that stayed on a sealed hard floor is a mop-up. Water that got under the flooring, into the walls, into carpet or through the ceiling below is a restoration job, and the drying needs to start the same day.

Washing Machine Flooded: What to Do First

1. 1Turn off the water and the power. The hot and cold supply valves are on the wall behind the machine; turn both clockwise. If a hose has burst and is spraying, or the valves will not move, close the house main instead. Turn off the breaker for the laundry area before you reach behind the machine or stand in water near the outlet, then unplug it.
2. 2Photograph everything before cleanup. Video the standing water, how far it spread, the back of the machine and the hose or fitting that failed, and every room the water reached, including the ceiling of the room below. Keep the failed hose.
3. 3Get the standing water up. Towels, a mop or a wet/dry vacuum on hard floors. Move laundry baskets, rugs and anything cardboard off the floor. Open the doors of any nearby cabinets so you can see whether water ran underneath.
4. 4Check where the water went. Look along baseboards, under the edge of vinyl or laminate, at carpet in the next room, and at the ceiling downstairs. This is what decides whether you are finished or need a restoration company.

The laundry room flooding page has the same steps in short form to keep on your phone.

When It Is a DIY Mop-Up and When It Is a Restoration Job

The machine is not the question. Where the water went is.

Anything wet inside a floor or wall needs to be measured, not guessed. Restoration companies use moisture meters and thermal cameras to find the edge of the wet area, which is usually well past the stain, and they dry it to a recorded standard. The EPA advises drying wet materials within 24 to 48 hours to prevent mold, and on the IICRC S500 clock, mold germinates on wet material at about 24 hours. A box fan dries the surface of a floor, not the subfloor under it. Who to call for water under flooring explains how that is checked.

Clean Water or Gray Water: Why It Changes the Cleanup

The IICRC S500 standard sorts water by contamination, and a washing machine can produce two of the three categories.

• Category 1, clean water: a supply hose or valve that burst. This is tap water until it sits.
• Category 2, gray water: water that overflowed from the drum or the drain hose during a wash. It carries detergent, lint and whatever was on the laundry. Carpet pad soaked with it is usually removed rather than dried, and surfaces are cleaned with an antimicrobial.
• Category 3: if water rose out of the drain standpipe or a nearby floor drain, it may be sewage from a blocked line. Do not clean that up yourself; see who to call for a sewage backup.

Clean water left sitting also gets worse, because it picks up what it soaks through. Gray water mitigation typically costs $4–$8 per square foot, against $3–$7 for clean water.

Washing Machine Flooded the House, Basement or Kitchen Floor

Upstairs laundry, water through the ceiling below. This is the most common way a washer overflow becomes a large job. Turn off the breaker for the room below before you go under the stain, and do not push on a sagging ceiling. The cavity between the floors has to be opened and dried from below.

Washing machine flooded the basement. Water from a machine on a concrete floor often looks like the easy case. Check finished walls, carpet, stored boxes and the bottom plate of any framed walls. If it came up through a floor drain rather than out of the washer, treat it as a sewage backup.

Washing machine flooded the kitchen floor. Water runs under the toe kicks of cabinets and under the dishwasher, where you cannot see it. Pull the kick plate and look, or have it metered. Swollen cabinet bases and lifting vinyl are signs it got there.

Washing machine flooded the carpet. If it was overflow wash water, the pad usually has to go. If it was a clean supply hose caught early, carpet can often be dried in place. How to dry wet carpet covers when that works.

Who to Call for a Washing Machine Leak or Dishwasher Leak

For water that spread, call in this order:

1. 1A water damage restoration company, the same day, to extract and dry. The drying is what has a deadline.
2. 2An appliance technician or plumber for the machine, the hose or the drain. With the valves closed, this can wait a day or two. For a slow leak rather than a flood, see washing machine leaking from the bottom.
3. 3Your insurer, the same day, once everything is photographed.

A dishwasher leak works the same way, except the water usually goes under the cabinets and into the subfloor rather than across an open floor. Close the valve under the sink, turn off the breaker, and see dishwasher leak water damage for where to look.

If you rent, tell your landlord in writing with the photos. The landlord arranges the restoration company.

Does Insurance Cover a Washing Machine Flood?

A sudden failure, such as a burst hose or an overflow, is generally covered for the damage it causes to floors, walls, ceilings and belongings. The machine and the hose themselves usually are not. A leak that dripped for weeks, or a hose the insurer can show was visibly worn, is where claims get disputed. Does insurance cover a dishwasher or washing machine leak goes through what adjusters look for. Do not wait for an adjuster before drying starts; your policy expects you to prevent further damage.

What Happens When You Call

If the water got past the laundry room floor, (888) 840-6512 connects you to a certified water damage restoration company taking calls in your ZIP. The line is answered 24/7, and there is no charge for the referral.

• A short automated menu answers. Press 1 for water damage.
• Enter the 5-digit ZIP of the property.
• The line goes quiet for about half a minute while it connects. That is normal; stay on.
• When someone answers, say it was a washing machine, whether it was a hose or an overflow, and what is wet.

Have ready: the property address with ZIP, when the water started, what is wet now (rooms, floors, ceilings, and whether it is still running), and whether you have opened an insurance claim. The company gives you an arrival window for your address on the call, and the scope and price are between you and them.

Stopping It From Happening Again

Replace rubber supply hoses with braided stainless ones, and replace any hose that is bulging, cracked or stiff. Make sure the drain hose is clipped into the standpipe so it cannot jump out on the spin cycle. A drain pan under the machine, or a leak sensor with an automatic shut-off valve, catches the next failure before it reaches the floor. And if it was a pipe rather than the washer that burst, the order of calls is in who to call for a burst pipe.