Expert Water Damage Repair Guide

When you have clogged toilets, sinks or bathtubs that flood, it's obvious that water damage repairs will be required. Still, your home can suffer from water damage in ways that aren't as visible. Since you have pipes running all over your residence, you can have a pipe leaking or an accumulation of condensation between your ceilings and walls. It's an alarming incident since this isn't in view- you won't know until you have water damage, and then it's hard to define how long the issue has lingered.

You can figure out how old or new your water problems are by analyzing the water damage itself since the pipes aren't visible. Unfortunately, it's hard to figure out an exact timeline, but we have some tips on how to analyze the damage so you can come up with an approximate time on how long you've had water in the damaged space.

Find Out the Time Frame of Your Water Damage

You can gain some insight on whether the damage produced by water is new or old by using these tips:

  • History of the House: An older home could already have some previous water damage, so it's critical to keep track of what's there and to note if the damage changes over a period of time. Keeping track of the weather is a great idea as well, since, if you have a small leak, it can take some time for a water spot to surface. Taking note of your water spots and damages can save you a lot of hassle when figuring out whether the damage produced from water is old or new.
  • History of the House: An older home could already have some previous water damage, so it's critical to keep track of what's there and to note if the damage changes over a period of time. Keeping track of the weather is a great idea as well, since, if you have a small leak, it can take some time for a water spot to surface. Taking note of your water spots and damages can save you a lot of hassle when figuring out whether the damage produced from water is old or new.
  • Touch the Spot: You'll can verify whether the damage produced by water is new or old just by touching it. An older spot is going to be soft since the material has taken in a fair amount of moisture. A newer spot is going to be moist, but the material will feel solid.
  • Look for Rings: Remember how tree rings presents the age of the tree? The same approach can be used towards spots created by water. An older water spot will have rings around it. They can also be shaded differently because the spot gets saturated then dries and gets saturated again then dries again, etcetera. A newer spot will be darker with zero rings circling it.
  • Examine the Materials: It's important to be aware of the materials that make up your ceiling or walls, because things like thick paint or tiles can actually trap moisture. If this is the case, even a water spot that's small can mean the accumulation of water has been lingering for a period of time.
  • Mold Inspection: When mold has had time to colonize, this means the damage produced by water has lingered for nearly two to three days.
  • Decomposition: Your material won't deteriorate from the first instance of water damage. And when there has been decomposition, this indicates your material has been susceptible to repeated flooding or standing water.

Call Paul Davis - Your Professional Water Damage Repair Specialists

For any water damage repair emergencies, call Paul Davis. When there's a pipe dripping that you can't find, it's essential to call a professional. The professional team at Paul Davis has the know-how and response time you need to maintain your residence. To find a local franchise in your location, call us at (519)776-4567 and we'll get an expert for your assistance.