Why you should not DIY your water damage

4/17/2020 (Permalink)

Hot Water Heater flooded A Basement

A lot of times we will hear "We had a small water damage before but cleaned up the water, so we didn’t feel we needed to call you." While this may be okay if the water damage was on tile flooring or concrete most of the time even after the standing water is removed, there are wet materials left behind. For example, a customer's dishwasher flooded their kitchen; they cleaned the water off the surface and went about their day, however they were not aware of the materials below being wet.  

WET LAMINATE PLANKS -If the floors are laminate planks, eventually the seams to the floor will start to separate and the water that is now trapped underneath the flooring will never dry. We at SERVPRO OF CHAMBERSBURG always remove wet laminate planks. The problem is the floor being engineered wood acts as a sponge and will eventually ruin the floor completely. Another issue is the water now trapped between the planks and the subfloor will never dry leading to mold and worst-case scenario rotted subfloors. It is always important to call SERVPRO to ensure your structure is dried out correctly.

WET DRYWALL- Drywall is a tricky one; it is hard to look at drywall and be able to tell if it's wet or not unless it's crumbling from the ceiling. That’s why SERVPRO of CHAMBERSBURG has all the moisture meters and equipment to check every kind of material in your home. Even if the water wasn’t deep enough to touch the drywall itself doesn’t mean the drywall isn’t wet. If the baseboard trim becomes wet, then there is a chance of wicking. Wicking is when the water travels up through the drywall causing the damage to move higher up the wall. Our team always removes baseboard even if the drywall behind it is not wet. If the baseboard is wet and is not removed it can cause damage to the drywall causing it to eventually become wet as well as the moisture trapped between the two materials may lead to mold.

WET INSULATION/CARPET PAD- Wet carpet pad and insulation are always removed; the two kinds of materials act as a sponge and will never completely dry which may lead to mold. If you have a leak in your ceiling that was fixed but the drywall and insulation remained, you may want to check out the attic space or behind the ceiling separating the levels depending on what is directly above. If the drywall and insulation became wet but were never properly removed there may be a chance of mold.

WET HARDWOOD FLOORS- Call SERVPRO of CHAMBERSBURG as soon as possible if your hardwood floors become wet, because WE CAN SAVE THEM. The key to successfully drying out hardwood floors is to start the drying process as soon as possible. SERVPRO OF CHAMBERSBURG has specialty drying mats and special techniques in drying that can successfully dry out hardwood floors. The longer the floors remain wet the less chance we can successfully dry the floors; what will happen is a cupping effect or swelling.

The key to saving as much as we can is the homeowner calling us as quickly as possible; our team works on a 24/7 on-call service and can arrive at a jobsite as quickly as possible to begin remediation. Whether it is 2 AM or 4PM call us at SERVPRO OF CHAMBERSBURG to ensure your home is dried out properly.