Inside, Patel found that while he had been out to dinner in San Francisco, celebrating his 32nd birthday, a water hose on his washing machine had broken, flooding the living room and part of the kitchen with two inches of water.

"The first thing that went through my head was, 'One more headache to deal with,'" said Patel, who moved into the Morgan Hill home two years ago. The next thought he had was helpful, though. He called the first water extraction service listed in the phone book.

Miniature disasters in the home are more common than most home owners realize, according to local clean-up experts, and knowing the importance of acting quickly can save not just your prized possessions, but your home itself, according to Bob Arias, owner of Flood Pros and Bob's Restoration, which operates in the entire South Valley.

In the event of a water leak, moisture not only collects on the surface of things like linoleum and carpets, it also finds its way underneath floors, into walls and wreaks havoc if left to sit. Fire, too, can cause extensive damage as smoke and particulate matter spreads throughout the house, damaging nearly everything in its path if not cleaned effectively, said Jim BetanCourt, owner of FreshX High Tech Cleaning, a Salinas-based restoration company that serves the South Valley.

Water is the more common of the two problems. A hose breaks, a pipe splits or a water heater fails, spilling water through the house. Or, a sewer system fails and backs up into the house.

"The worst job I have been on was a house where the sewage system failed and backed up into the home," said Arias. "Their house was the lowest in the neighborhood, and we had floating water in their home about two feet deep. I walked in and almost vomited."

When water is present, the first job professionals have to accomplish is getting it out. Home owners can help the process by finding the leak and shutting off the water source if the area is safe enough to do so. Then, it's best to clear water by any means available - broom, bucket, shop vac or anything else that happens to be handy.

Once clean-up services arrive, they will switch to using a portable or truck-mounted extractor, said Arias. Only when the area looks dry does the real search begin.

Clean-up experts use infrared cameras and moisture detectors to find out exactly how wet a home's sub-structure became during the spill. Then they rip up carpets and floors as necessary to get dehumidifiers and fans to the areas that need them most, said Arias.

Patel was lucky. He ended up losing his carpet, a couple of kitchen rugs and a mat in the guest bathroom, but the water didn't rise high enough to damage his leather couches or reach his formal dining room. And the leak wasn't on a second story. That can require knocking down drywall to air out the ceiling and keep floors from buckling.

The drying process usually takes between three and seven days and is fully covered by the average home owner's insurance, said Arias, but getting started early can save home owners from developing noxious mold growth within the walls of their homes.

The growth comes along with untreated moisture and can aggravate allergies or even make some home owners sick, said Arias.

And in the case of a fire, all of these problems are compounded, said BetanCourt.

Fires consume all sorts of goods within the home that were not meant to be burned. These items, in turn, give off fumes, odors and particle matter that floats through the house in the form of smoke, said BetanCourt.

So not only are home owners dealing with the fire damage created by flames and the water damage left by firefighters' hoses, they're also confronted with the corrosive particulate matter spread throughout the household by the heat expansion of the air and the best efforts of the home's air conditioning system.

Within minutes, this matter can yellow plastics and small appliances located close to the source of the fire and permanently discolor porous materials like marble and alabaster.

In hours, it can stain the grout in bathrooms, turn fiberglass bathroom fixtures yellow, tarnish metal and discolor furniture finishes, according to BetanCourt.

"In our business, the time factor is very important," said BetanCourt. "The quicker you can get out there and neutralize or control the corrosive damage that is caused by the soot residue, the better you're going to minimize the damage."

In the aftermath of a fire, BetanCourt gathers a family's most precious surviving items - pictures, china, treasured heirlooms - for immediate cleaning. If items like china, glass and crystal are left uncleaned for too long, they will etch and pit so much as to be unusable, he said.

BetanCourt uses special sponges to wipe down larger furniture pieces and other items that can be salvaged and said that in a typical grease fire, most of which do not burn the home structure itself, even kitchen appliances can be restored to their pre-fire condition 99 percent of the time.

Both experts agree that the best defense against a disaster is a plan. Don't leave town for long periods of time, even weekends, without turning off the water supply to your home, said Arias.

Home owners with low-lying plots are also advised to put in one-way valves on their toilets, said Arias, which redirect sewage backwash out of a pipe and on to the front lawn in the event of a sewer failure rather than allowing the system to back up into a home.

Try to keep cloth and other flammable goods away from heat sources in the kitchen and keep an eye on anything left on the stove. Have an escape plan in the event of a fire and call 911.

After the flames are put out, call a water and fire restoration specialist. Take pictures to document the scene, and call your home insurance company to get the claims process moving, advised Arias and BetanCourt.

For more information on water and fire damage restoration, call BetanCourt at (800) 924-9094 or Arias at (800) 698-3911.

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