Step-by-step homeowner guide
How to dry your home after water damage
Plain-language instructions for setting up your equipment, removing wet drywall, and getting your home dry the right way.
Setting up your drying equipment
Watch your electrical circuits
This equipment uses a lot of power. Don't plug more than one dehumidifier or more than three fans into the same outlet or circuit — you'll trip the breaker or worse.
- 1
Stop the water and get the standing water out first
Make sure the leak is fixed before anything else. Then use a wet-vac to pull out as much standing water as you can before you set up the drying equipment.
- 2
Set up the dehumidifier
Put the dehumidifier in the middle of the room. Run the drain hose into a sink, shower drain, or toilet so it can drain on its own — you won't have to empty it manually.
- 3
Set up the fans around the room
Point the fans at the walls at an angle, spacing them around the room in a circle. This keeps air moving across all the wet surfaces and speeds up drying.
How to remove wet drywall (flood cuts)
If water soaked into your walls, the drywall needs to come out so the framing behind it can dry. Here's how to do it safely.
- 1
Find out how far the moisture has spread
Use the moisture meter to scan the walls and find where the wet area ends. Mark a line 12 to 24 inches above the highest wet spot — that's where you'll cut.
- 2
Cut straight across at a consistent height
Use a level to draw a straight line at the 2-foot or 4-foot mark on the wall. Cutting at a standard height makes it much easier to patch later.