Water damage is among the costliest problems that your home can face and it can be a major hassle to deal with. This is because water is notoriously difficult to remove from walls, carpets and floors once they are soaked. Once these areas soak in all of this water, the process of degradation will begin. As water sits inside of these things, it can cause mold buildup, flaking and rotting everything that it comes into contact with. Due to the destructive force of water on a home and the difficulty inherent with removing it, homeowners need to take water damage repair very seriously.
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Problems with Water Damage Repair
Sometimes, the damage caused by water can be more extensive than a homeowner realizes right away. This is especially true when major water damage is occurring under a carpet. The carpet may dry, but it's covering up major damage that would have otherwise been immediately evident to you. Since water can be so destructive so quickly, it poses a unique threat that needs to be handled with more tenacity than some people may realize. Unfortunately, the rotting of your floors is not the only problem that can come along with water damage.
Mold is an extremely important thing to keep in mind during any conversation about water damage repair. Black mold becomes very prevalent in most places that undergo severe amounts of water damage. This mold is almost impossible to fully eradicate once you have a big outbreak and it can cause a wide range of health problems for residents. Black mold releases spores that can cause extreme amounts of itching and heavy inflammation of the lungs. When it is improperly cleaned, these spores can become aerosol in massive quantities and can become significantly more dangerous to anyone living in the house.
Identifying Major Issues
Obviously, the lowest points of your home will be at the greatest risk of sustaining water damage in the event of a flood or other major water disaster. Big spills on upper floors of a home pose a lower risk to the stability and health of the home than big spills on lower floors. Upper-level water damage is often mitigated by the greater degree of airflow that exists from one floor to another. Despite this, you don't want to just assume that there is no major damage when you have a big spill in an upper floor of your home.
Concentrating on the lower floors and your basement is a very smart way to look into potential water damage. Walking around while pushing your feet down forcibly will help you to identify problem areas in your flooring. A weakened part of your floor will have a different level of "give" to it than a healthy part. If you feel that you could be at risk of having water damage in your home, it's smart to consult with a professional. Given the dangerous nature of water damage, it only makes sense to work with professionals whenever possible.
Finding Water Damage Repair Services
When you are looking for a contractor to help you with your water damage repair needs, you want to search for some very specific things. Different contractors have different types of certifications when it comes to building codes and the types of toxins they're legally allowed to work with. You want to be sure that you're working with a contractor who is qualified and licensed to work with some of the dangers you'll face with water repair. This should not be difficult to find and you should be able to clear this up very quickly.
In many local jurisdictions, water damage repair contractors will require licensing to deal with things like mold. Mold is treated as a respiratory toxin in the same way as asbestos and other airborne toxins are. Just as a contractor needs to be licensed to work with asbestos, a contractor must also normally be licensed to work with mold. Even if you live in an area that doesn't have this restriction, it's a smart thing to look for. A contractor who doesn't know how to safely handle mold during a water damage repair job can end up creating a very big problem.
Move Quickly
One of the most important things to keep in mind with water damage repair is that you have to get to it as soon as possible. Water damage is always destructive, but prolonged exposure to water can make a small problem an enormous one. If you do not face the problem early on, you may find that you're left dealing with a huge problem. It makes much more sense to deal with the problem sooner rather than later. Otherwise, you may be stuck dealing with a huge issue over months that could have been settled in days.