With heavy rain pelting much of the country, and hurricane season in full swing, your home might be the next one to flood. Here's how to salvage (or toss) your flooring, furniture, and clothes after the water recedes.

1. Assess the damage.
Before you tackle clean up, know that severe damage usually requires professional help. Pros have heavy-duty equipment to remove water and the expertise to check for mold. Plus, any damage to walls and floors should be professionally repaired.

Typically, you'll be able to handle minor flooding yourself, but don't bother trying to save any items damaged by water containing raw sewage, oil or other waste; they'll need to be discarded.

Summer is the season to get out there and have some fun. You’ve been trapped indoors throughout the long damp and dreary West Coast winter and spring, so the warm and bright days of summer present a welcome invitation to get back outdoors. But before you head out, just think about your carpeting. While you were trudging in and out from the soggy outdoors for the past few months you were inadvertently tracking dirt and assorted debris into your floor coverings. Now is the ideal time to get your carpets professionally cleaned, to begin your summer fresh and free of allergens and worse.

The fun of hosting summer parties, barbeques, pool parties, and open house events often lasts all summer long, but keeping your upholstery and carpet clean during this busy outdoor season can also be a challenge. There are a lot of people walking through your home during the summer party season, which can often pose a problem for keeping upholstery spotless and carpets stain-free.

Most often, there are two reasons that stains happen to either your upholstered furniture or your carpeting, either from spillage or from nature.

Take the stress out of this season cleaning challenges using these shortcuts.

Use leftovers as cleaning supplies.
"If you have half a lemon leftover, use it to clean stainless steel fixtures and faucets," says Donna Smallin, cleaning expert at Unclutter.com. "Rub it over the areas you want to clean, then wipe them down with a microfibre cloth."

Get grime off your grill.
"While the grill is still warm, use a wire brush to scrub down the grates," advises Jolie Kerr, author of the online column Ask A Clean Person and an equally charming book.

As a professional carpet cleaner, you would think I discourage people from renting or purchasing a carpet cleaning machine. Not me! If you want to grab the reigns and tackle carpet cleaning, go for it. I believe that DIY carpet cleaning can extend the life of your carpets.

***But, let this article be your warning***

I have seen many a carpet ruined by improper DIY carpet cleaning. So, before you start filling the water tanks and going to town on your spots and stains, make sure you avoid these 5 common pitfalls.