What Has To Happen After Water Damage Hits

2 June 2019
 Categories: , Blog

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The shock of seeing water damage in your house can make it feel like an impossible situation to bounce back from. With the help of a water damage restoration services company, though, you can get the problem under control and start to fix things. Addressing the immediate issues, though, is critical. Here are three things that have to be done before the restoration process can get rolling.

1.  Stopping the Flow of Water

If you're dealing with a one-off event that has already ended, that's great. In many situations, however, water can continue flowing for days or even indefinitely. For example, a leaky water pipe, even one that's just dripping a little bit, can keep problems developing long after water damage restoration work is complete and everything is buttoned back up.

Whatever the circumstances, the flow of water into the structure has to be brought under control. If necessary, you may have to get water officials or a plumber out to your property to turn off systems. Additional work might have to be performed before full-on restoration efforts commence.

2.  Drying Out

There are a few things that can be done while you wait for things like plumbing work to be done. In particular, drying the building out is important. This is where working with professionals can really pay off. Pros have access to industrial-size fans that can circulate massive amounts of air into a structure. They also have pumping equipment that allows them to deal with pooled water.

Balancing speed and effectiveness is challenging when drying a building out. If water stays too long, mold can form. If it's dried to quickly, wood can warp.

3.  Assessing Toxicity

Mold spores can become activated when large amounts of water stay on surfaces even for a few hours. Look for patches of black, green, or blue discoloration in ceilings, walls, and floors. Indications of fuzzy materials, especially growing at the edges of a circle of colored patches, mean there may be an active mold problem.

Also, sewage and wastewater can collect even if there wasn't a sewage leak. This happens because flooding can stop sewer systems from working properly, ultimately causing them to backflow into the building. Especially if you don't use your basement frequently, this sort of thing might catch you off guard. Cleaning out these sort of materials, commonly referred to in the business as black and gray water, is essential to keeping a residence healthy.

For more information, contact a damage contractor who offers water damage restoration services.