Where the water came from sets the whole first visit. Lee water through a ground floor on the Marina or near the quays carries silt and whatever was in the street. A washing machine hose in Douglas is a cleaner job. Restoration firms sort it into clean, grey or black water on arrival, and that call decides whether carpets and underlay can stay. If you can reach the fuse board without standing in water, switch off the wet rooms. If you cannot, leave it and say so on the form. Photograph the water line against a door frame or a kitchen unit, with the time showing on a phone in the shot. Many city terraces and older houses in Blackrock and Sunday's Well sit on suspended timber floors. Skimming the surface leaves the void full. Ask the firm how they will check under the floor, and whether the job carries straight on into structural drying.
The firm should name the water category, measure how high it sat and say whether boards need lifting to reach the void.
Switch off the wet rooms only if it is dry underfoot at the board. Move what you can carry upstairs. Photograph before anything is binned.
River and tide water in Midleton, Glounthaune and the city floodplain is dirtier than a burst pipe in a Carrigaline estate. Say which you have in the first line.