Photo and video walkthrough before cleanup erases proof

Friends are coming with gloves. You’re itching to throw the sofa on the curb. Do the walkthrough first. Twenty minutes. Then they can rip.

Your phone is enough. Wide shots, then the ugly close-ups. Open the closets. Open the garage freezer. Narrate what you’re seeing.

Once the slab is empty, you’re asking an adjuster to trust your memory. Some will. Some won’t.

Do this now

1. Start at the street and walk in the way the water did. Video the whole path.
2. Photograph every room: corners, ceilings, outlets, the water line, the contents.
3. Open cabinets, closets, and the garage. Shoot serial plates on big appliances.
4. Back the files up to a shared drive before the phone dies or gets wet.
5. Then start the safe cleanup. Don’t wait days for perfect lighting.

How to shoot so it holds up

Hold the camera steady. Say the address and the date out loud on the video. Stand in the doorway for a wide frame, then walk in. Include a tape measure on the water line if you have one. Don’t skip the rooms that “only got a little.” Those rooms become arguments later.

People will tell you to just start

Houstonians often report they gutted at sunrise because the smell was bad and a cousin had a crew. That’s human. Mitigation still matters. So does proof. You can do both in one morning if the camera goes first. If someone already hauled a pile to the curb, photograph the pile and the empty room. That’s not as good as the before. It’s better than nothing.

Safety while you document

If the outlets are wet or you smell gas, get out and call the right utility or 911. You can shoot from the doorway. Don’t wade for a photo. Don’t climb a wet attic without a reason. A claim is not worth a shock or a fall through insulation.

Do this next

1. Room-by-room inventory spreadsheet that adjusters accept
2. Water lines on walls: measure and shoot
3. Commercial providers hub

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