How to Clean Your Home Once Water Has Leaked Into It From a Stripped Roof

Dry out the house and any surfaces that are wet. Open the windows and doors to allow outside air to flow into the house.

Position fans so they blow on the wettest areas of the house. Suck up any standing water inside the house using a shop vacuum, dumping the water down a toilet or other drain.

Inspect any areas you suspect have begun growing mold, after you have finished drying the house. You may see mold growth or detect a musty odor in an area of the house, indicating mold is growing out of sight.

Put on protective gloves, goggles and a face mask in addition to clothing that covers your skin. Remove any porous materials in the house that have mold growth, such as drywall or carpet padding. Cut away the moldy drywall with a drywall saw, and pry up carpet padding with a pry bar. You cannot remove all of the mold spores from the inside of these porous materials through any cleaning methods -- meaning the mold can come back later.

Spray any moldy surfaces in the house with a spray bottle filled with water, keeping the mold spores from becoming airborne. Apply an ammonia-free cleaner to moldy surfaces and scrub away the mold with a stiff-bristle cleaning brush. If scrubbing does not remove the mold from wood, sand the wood down until the mold is gone, then promptly clean up the sawdust with a shop vacuum.

Mix 1/2 cup of bleach with 1 gallon of water in a bucket, then apply the mixture with a sponge to the areas where you cleaned up the mold. Keep applying the bleach and water solution to the surfaces, keeping them wet for 15 minutes.

Rinse the surfaces that were moldy with clean water. Open the windows in your house, point fans at the areas you cleaned and towel dry the cleaned surfaces. Once the surfaces are dry, place the towels and your clothing directly in the washing machine.