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A toilet overflow at your commercial property can feel like a minor nuisance at first—but it can quickly escalate into a large-scale water damage emergency if not addressed properly. Worse still, the water from an overflowing toilet is typically classified as Category 3 (blackwater), meaning it may carry harmful bacteria and pathogens. Knowing what to do when your toilet overflows at work helps protect employees, customers, and anyone else on site from serious health risks.
Blackwater from an overflowing toilet may contain disease-causing organisms and chemicals. Attempting to clean it yourself—without the proper training and protective equipment—can lead to serious health risks. These risks may be exacerbated when cleanup is incomplete. Harmful pathogens can easily be left behind when proper cleaning techniques are not utilized.
ATI Restoration, the nation’s oldest and largest family-operated disaster recovery firm, is here to help when your toilet overflows at work. Equipped to handle all types of water damage, our technicians are:
We employ specialized decontamination procedures and use industrial equipment to eliminate contaminants, sanitize the affected areas, and ensure your commercial property is restored to its cleanest, safest, and healthiest state.
If you are dealing with a toilet overflow at your commercial property, ATI Restoration is here to get you back to normal operations without delay. Contact us today for immediate assistance. With our 24-Hour Emergency Response service, we can dispatch a team of certified water restoration professionals to stop the overflow, assess the damage, and craft a personalized restoration plan to bring your property back to its original state—or better—in the shortest amount of time possible.
When your toilet overflows at work, it is important to act swiftly. The longer water is left sitting, the more damage it can create. This will affect the time, resources, and tools required to fix it, ultimately costing you more money to simply restore things to normal.
While it is inadvisable to clean up blackwater on your own, there are some steps you can take to address toilet overflows at work. These include:
If the water is already overflowing from the toilet and onto your floor, this is where you want to start. This step will quickly stop the water supply to your toilet. This knob is usually located on the wall near the base of the toilet, below the tank.
No matter what your first instinct is, don’t flush the toilet again. If the pipes are clogged, flushing twice (or more) will likely send more toilet water your way. Try loosening the clog with a plunger before water starts flowing out of the toilet and onto the floor.
Category 3 water may contain fecal matter, viruses, and bacteria that can easily spread beyond the bathroom. For everyone's safety:
Overflowing water travels quickly, sometimes seeping under cabinets or into wall cavities and insulation. Even when a bathroom looks clean and dry, hidden moisture in the subflooring, drywall, and behind baseboards can create a prime environment for mold growth and structural deterioration. This can be made worse in commercial buildings with multiple levels where migrating water can damage ceilings, electrical wiring, and much more.
ATI Restoration utilizes moisture mapping to identify hidden areas of moisture within walls, ceilings, and flooring. This allows us to identify all affected areas and apply the proper dehumidification and cleaning techniques.
Commercial property insurance may cover the damage from toilet overflows at work. Document the situation with photos, video, and notes. This information helps when you speak to your insurance agent about filing a claim or deciding your next best steps. Every policy differs, so you’ll want to confirm exactly what your policy covers.
When you work with ATI Restoration, our customer service team will assist you in handling insurance claims. We have a strong relationship with many of the nation’s top insurance companies and know the information they need to process claims quickly.
Raw sewage and blackwater require thorough sanitation, not simply drying. No matter the scale of the water damage, you need specialized services to properly disinfect, remove damaged materials, and address potential long-term consequences like mold proliferation and compromised structural integrity.
The water damage restoration professionals at ATI Restoration come from a variety of backgrounds, including plumbing, carpentry, electrical, and finishing. This gives us the ability to handle all aspects of commercial toilet overflows in-house, saving you time and money, and getting you back to business without delay.
When an unexpected toilet overflow leads to damage in your commercial space, you want a partner you can trust to handle the situation quickly and thoroughly. ATI Restoration:
ATI Restoration serves all commercial and industrial properties, including government buildings, hospitals, schools, and multifamily dwelling units. With the right professionals for every job, we are prepared to quickly address overflowing toilets and ensure your property—no matter the type—is promptly returned to its best condition.
Toilet overflows at work can be disruptive. Taking the right steps immediately can drastically reduce property damage, health risks, and downtime. Swift action—turning off the water supply, blocking the area off, and calling ATI Restoration—helps to ensure your restrooms are properly cleaned, sanitized, and safe for use.
With our 24-Hour Emergency Response service, national capabilities, and in-house expertise, you can be confident that your facility will quickly return to normal. We do everything possible to minimize disruption so you can focus on resuming daily operations.
Contact ATI Restoration online or call any of our 70+ regional offices for assistance 24/7/365. We’re ready to rapidly address damage and restore your property to its pre-loss condition, protecting you, your employees, and your customers every step of the way.
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