Water damage can compromise your homes’ structural integrity and also present a host of other health problems. When your home has any water issues, your best move is to act fast to solve or mitigate the problem before it worsens and becomes irreparable. Unfortunately, that’s not what most homeowners do, and they, later on, have to worry about restoring their homes from the water damage.
Water damage restoration is the process of restoring your home to a habitable state after water damage. It majorly involves draining all the water, fumigation, decontamination, and finally drying.
However, this is an oversimplification of the entire process. The entire process is much more complicated, and most times, you’ll end up replacing a few structures and installations.
In this piece, we’ll be looking at everything you need to know about water damage restoration and why it’s so important to have the right people do it for you.
The Water Damage Restoration Process?
Water restoration is not an easy job, and its best left to the professionals for the best results. There’s a very high chance that you’ll end up doing more damage if you choose to take up the task yourself.
Here’s what water damage restoration involves:
1. Inspection
The first step involves inspecting the floors, walls, ceilings, and pipes to determine the source and extent of the water damage. After the inspection, the expert classifies the damage and determines the next course of action.
You can classify building water damage into four classes and three categories, and they are:
Class 1– Minimal water damage where a small section of the room has absorbed some water. It shouldn’t be such a huge cause of alarm.
Class 2– Water damage spreads across the entire room and has absorbed into the walls and the carpet.
Class 3– Characterized by a lot of saturation throughout the room, and the water has absorbed into all the walls. This is typically the worst form of water damage.
Class 4– Water damage that requires specialty restoration services because of the types of materials affected due to water damage. Such materials include hardwood, concrete, or stone.
While class defines the extent of water damage in a particular room, the water damage category defines the source of the water damage. There are three categories of water damage, which are:
Category 1– This denotes water damage emanating for a broken pipe or water that conveys clean water or water damage from a clean water source.
Category 2– Category 2 is water damage from “grey water.” Greywater is water from sinks, showers, bathtubs that you have used “gently.” Sometimes category 1 water can turn into category 2 if it sits for too long.
Category 3– Category 3 is dirty water that is a cause of alarm because it can lead to illnesses and even death in severe cases. Category 3 water damage includes burst sewer pipes or flooding from rivers.
2. Water Extraction
After the expert has assessed the water damage in your home, the next step is to get rid of all the water. They accomplish this using a water pump or a liquid vacuum. The type of equipment they use depends on the degree of water damage and the amount of water in your home.
Professionals usually start water removal as soon as they complete the assessment of water damage. That’s because the standing water could facilitate the growth and proliferation of mold and other fungi. To make sure they do a bang-up job, some companies may use moisture detectors or hygrometers.
3. Drying and Dehumidification
Once all the water is out and all the absorbent surfaces are free from water, it’s time to dry the entire area. This is arguably the most difficult part of the restoration process. That’s because, at the end of drying, the entire room should be completely free of any moisture.
As such, the drying could even take several weeks depending on the size of the room and the extent of the water damage. These drying methods aren’t too intrusive, so don’t worry about having to take down any large wall fixtures.
Dehumidification means getting rid of all the humidity that makes the house feel musty. It’s an easy process that is accomplished using one or a few dehumidifiers.
4. Cleaning
Now that the water is out of the way, the restoration company can do some thorough cleaning of that particular room. The cleaning entails actually cleaning and sanitizing to get rid of any microbial growth that proliferates in moist conditions. This cleaning also sets the groundwork for the actual restoration.
5. Restoration
Restoration entails replacing or fixing any installations, structures, or fixtures that the water damaged. In most cases, it involves replacing the drywall and insulation or sometimes even electrical installations.
If the water damage is too severe, entire walls may have to be replaced or the foundation repaired. For older homes, there’s a high chance of exposure to toxic substances like asbestos or lead. The experts will check to ensure that the water damage doesn’t expose you to these toxic substances
Water damage from winter freezing needs a somewhat different approach from the one above. You can check out this guide from servprowesthartford.com to find out more about the same.
Do I Have to Move out During the Restoration?
The question of having to move out during the restoration depends on the extent of the water damage. In the most severe cases, you’ll already have moved out before the professionals start the damage restoration. However, for mild cases, you just have to move your stuff to another room to give the experts some working space.
Act Fast to Prevent the Water Damage From Worsening
You won’t need water damage restoration if you act fast and take care of the issue at its infancy. Prolonging repairs even for a minor pipe leak could be very costly in the long run. So the best thing to do is take care of the issue as soon as it occurs.
For major pipe bursts or flood damage, you have no option but to call for repairs ASAP. Just make sure you get the right people for the job so you get your money’s worth.
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