Water Spots - How New Are They? - Find Out by Taking These Steps

One of the more common issues a home can sustain is water damage. As water damage repair experts, Paul Davis knows the complications that water damage generates, especially when it can't be seen. Your property has plumbing running throughout it, including the inside of your walls and ceilings. If these pipes have condensation on them or a leak, they can slowly erode your ceiling or walls. One of the more frustrating situations to this is determining whether or not the damage caused by water is old or new.

However, when you recognize damage to your walls or water spots on your ceiling, these are flags indicating a pipe that's leaking or condensation causing a problem. Because the area is concealed, though, it's hard to figure out how long the issue has been at hand. Even though there isn't a way to figure out exactly how long your water damage problem has persisted, there are some ways to diagnose whether the water damage is old or new.

Tips On Damage Caused by Water - Determine its Age

Listed below are some tips you can take in order to determine the time frame of your water damage:

• History of the House: Keep track of any spots on your ceiling or walls and take into account any strong weather you had in your area like a downpour. Damages and spots derived from water can take months to emerge if it's a slight leak. If your residence is an older home, the spots generated by water damage may have been there for some time. So it's essential to take note of the spots you perceive while figuring out whether this is new water damage or old water damage.
• History of the House: An old house may already have some previous water damage, so it's essential to keep track of what's there and to note if the damage changes over a period of time. Tracking the weather is a good idea as well, because if you have a a slow dripping pipe, it can take months for a spot to appear. Keeping track of your water spots and damages can save you lots of time when pinpointing whether your water damage is old or new.
• Touch the Spot: Go ahead and feel the spot- this will reveal a lot about the age of the damage generated by water. A new spot will feel wet but your ceiling or drywall will still feel the same, while an old spot will be mushy and squishy since your material would have absorbed a fair amount of water.
• Look for Rings: Having rings around your water damage spot presents age. Consider it like a tree- the more rings it has, the longer the damage generated by water has been present. Discoloration of the blemish is also helpful because it reveals that the area leaks, dries, leaks, dries, etcetera. If it's a new spot created by water, the area will be a single stain with no rings.
• Examine the Materials: It's essential to know about the materials that make up your ceiling or walls, because things like tiles or thick paint can trap the water. If this is the circumstance, even a water spot that's small can mean the accumulation of water has been remaining for a period of time.
• Mold Inspection: If you see that bacteria, or mold, is there, the damage generated by water has been present for nearly two to three days.
• Decay: If your materials deteriorate from damage produced by water, this is usually the outcome of repeat flooding or standing water. Decomposition usually won't occur from the first situation of leakage.

Get a Professional Water Damage Repair Specialist

For all your water damage repair needs, get in touch with Paul Davis. If there's a pipe dripping that you can't detect, it's important to get in touch with a professional. The expert team at Paul Davis has the industry knowledge and response time required to get your residence back in order. For a local franchise near your area, contact us at +1-403-696-8886 and we'll get an expert to come help you out.