What to do with water damage?
Sunday 07 February 2021
The cause of water damage
Water damage can be caused in different ways. For example, old water pipes that no longer function properly, a roof that is overloaded and therefore slowly begins to show signs of wear and tear or simply because of intense weather conditions that the roof and gutter of your home cannot cope with.
Damage can also simply be caused by an accident, such as when you let your bathtub overflow or when your waterbed or aquarium breaks down. The large amount of water then quickly rushes through your home and can soak into various materials, such as the carpet or laminate.
Water often manages to penetrate the smallest cracks and can cause serious moisture and mould damage. Water damage can also be caused by an accumulation of moisture due to condensation, such as in damp rooms. This can lead to unpleasant health consequences.
The seriousness of water damage can vary enormously. There are leakages which have caused immediate and considerable damage and which have led to a huge amount of water entering the house, or there are places where the water or moisture that has penetrated is barely visible, such as within the walls or between the ceilings. In some cases, the water damage needs to be traced by a specialist. Special tools are often used for this.
Best solutions for water damage
The best solution for water damage depends on the type of damage that has been caused by water or dampness in your home. For example, there are methods for detecting and repairing damage to pipes, and different methods for thoroughly cleaning surfaces that have been seriously affected by water.
A specialist often knows exactly how the damage can best be remedied and deals with it quickly. The specialist uses different materials and cleaning products and ensures that both the water damage and the source of the water damage are thoroughly dealt with.
If a room in your house is flooded, a specialist will ensure that the water is carefully pumped away. The moisture that then remains will be carefully extracted from the surface, so that the house is once again completely dry and moisture-free. If the floor has been damaged by the excess water, as is often the case with wooden or laminate floors, the material can be treated or completely replaced by a flooring specialist.
Most common water damage spots
Water flows through your whole house, to the radiators, to your shower and to the kitchen. This can cause a leak at any place in your home. These leaks are not always immediately visible. It is therefore important that you learn to recognise and track down leak warnings quickly. If you are not very familiar with this, you can always have an expert come out regularly to check your pipes for any leaks.
A common place where damage occurs is with pipes that can freeze during the winter. For example, water pipes in the barn or attic that are not heated during the winter. Frozen pipes can be easily prevented by insulating the pipes properly, or by regularly circulating hot water through the pipes.
In addition, damage can easily occur when roof tiles have shifted. This can be caused by the wind, for example. If roof tiles are no longer in place, rainwater can often enter the house more easily and the insulation material or exposed beams can be damaged.