If you are thinking of evacuating your house after there are any signs of water damage, see if it’s severely or partially damaged. If you have weighed your options and the destruction is beyond control, immediately vacate the house because you would not want to live in a house that was flooded. You will be prone to exposed hazards if you continue to stay. However if the damage can be re- constructed, you can fix it up. We must also be sure that the preparations for water restoration done properly. Water cannot be wasted in this precious era.
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What can water do to damage our house?
There are worse effects to a house that has experienced water damage. The effects of the damage may be visible to the eye, but in most cases, there aren’t visible. We wouldn’t know if there is water accumulating underground or anywhere for that matter of fact.
Mould formation:
- This is one of the major complaints one can experience. It may take few weeks to grow but it will be evident if one gets allergies. This will also lead to respiratory problems such a wheezing and asthma.
- The smell lingers for a long time and it contaminates the air around us. Once a mould occurs, it will strive to leave a mark on where it has been.
- The fungal species may not be immediately found, but will gradually grow. It is also capable of foul odour around the area.
Furniture:
- Water weakens the structure of wood. It can make the wood swell and loose its strength.
- It may also be the breeding place for moulds, having an adverse effect to the wood. In other cases, woods can turn into white when in contact with water. When the swelling happens, it tends to become discolored.
- The peeling of wallpaper (not by people) happens when the wall behind it is damp. We should look out for such sightings.
Electrical appliances:
- If the wires that supply electricity isn’t waterproof, then we are in eminent danger. The appliances will malfunction if they come in contact with water.
- We must always keep the electrical appliances, hardware, wires, etc far away from water. The machinery will loss all power and we have to either fix it or remove it and install a new one.
Other damages:
- There are other areas where there is probability of much damage such as roof gutters, gutters that are shallow, the basement, the attic and others. We might not look into it as the first instinct of water damage area. But it is also prone to it.
- When the floor is damaged, we flush the water out. Even the floor will lose its texture. But for a carpet, this is a totally different case. The water cannot be removed by vacuum cleaner. It will damage both the carpet and the cleaner. You have to be aware of before cleaning your carpet.
- The structure of the house may be evidently changed. The damp soil underneath might take a long time to dry off and return back to its normal form. Wind and water could shift the structure.
- Saturated earth pressing in on the foundation may cause it to crack. If that happens, the foundation may break into pieces and we most certainly don’t want it to happen.
- Generally water damage impacts the materials around a house, such as rotting wood, rusting steel or the delamination of plywood- the most used material in most houses.
- We always associate a cold home with lack of insulation or air sealing. However, as we all know, water and moisture in the air draws the heat from the walls, and that helps the evaporation of moisture. As a result of this, less of the heat moves into your living space, and that makes your home colder.
Ultimately, we will have to fix up all these for our houses.