What You Need to Know About Water Damage

5/22/2017 (Permalink)

What You Need to Know About Water Damage

Flooding of water in one’s house can be a devastating experience. The same applies to flood water in business. The hustle associated with removal of the water and getting items back into place can be both an overwhelming and frustrating experience. The worst comes after removal of water. Materials, after water in home or water in business flooding, ‘get sick.' Wooden items may rot, mold may grow on others, steel may rust, and materials such as plywood may warp among many other damages. To grasp the extent to which water in home or water in business can affect your home and material, a sneak peek at the categories of water sources causing flood damage, and its classes are worth understanding.

Water sources causing water damage can be categorized into:

a) Category 1 Water: This is a source whose water does not pose any threat to humans. In other words, it is clean water which may come from broken water supply lines or overflows from tubs and sinks.

b) Category 2 Water: The source of category 2 water contains significant amounts of contaminants; chemical, physical or chemical. Exposure to this water may cause discomfort or illness. Referred to as gray water, this water may come from toilet bowls with urine, water discharge from dishwasher and washing machines and sump pump failures among others.

c) Category 3 Water: commonly referred to as black water, this water contains harmful microorganisms and unsanitary agents hence causing severe discomfort or illness when exposed to it. It includes water sources from sewage, flood water, seawater or standing water. They are basically contaminated water sources that affect the indoor environment.

Understanding the classes of water or flood damage is important as it helps one to internalize the extent of damage caused by the water and the mitigation or water cleanup measures to take. Class 1 majorly affects materials with low permeance meaning a very minimum amount of moisture is absorbed by the materials. Water cleanup and mitigation is thus not intensive. Class 2 water damaged is declared when the water has affected and an entire room of carpet and cushions. The water may have wicked up the walls but not higher than 24 inches. Water cleanup or mitigation, in this case, is more intensive as it requires a fast rate of evaporation methods as a mitigation measure to restore the materials. When water comes from overhead, the overall effect is walls, ceilings, and insulation, cushion and floor damage. This water damage is classified under Class 3. Class four generally involves water damage to hardwood floors, concrete, crawlspace and any other material with a very low permeance or porosity. Class 4 water damage require special drying and water cleanup to rid the surfaces of all the water to avoid future floor damage.

Whether faced with water in home or water in business premises, it is important to contact the nearest drying services. In as much as we may be able to assess the extent of damage with a simple sweep of the room and counting the number of items that are drenched in water, drying services are experts when it comes to restoration after water in home damage.

Restoration is a process that involves extensive procedures which if done by a person who is not qualified, the damaged materials may actually be lost forever. Water or flood damage restoration is prefaced by a loss assessments as well as an evaluation of affected materials. Drying services will then inspect the damaged area with water sensing equipment so that they can determine the source of the water or flood damage in addition to the possible extent of the damage. Thereafter, depending on the amount of water and how long the materials have been in the water, they use the best methods and measures for water clean-up and restoration. The result is avoiding of losses from things such as floor damage and material rot.
Visit http://www.SERVPROclearlake.com for more information on water damage.