Ways to Detect if Your Water Damage is Old or New
When you have backed-up sinks, bathtubs or toilets that overflow, you know that water damage restorations will be required. Nonetheless, your residence can sustain water damage in ways that aren't as obvious. Since you have plumbing running all over your property, you can have a leaky pipe or a buildup of condensation between your walls or ceilings. It's an alarming incident because this isn't visible- you won't recognize it until you there's water damage, and then it's difficult to diagnose how long the issue has lingered.
Because the pipes aren't visible, you can get an estimate of how long you've had water issues by evaluating the water damage itself. Unfortunately, it's difficult to find out an exact timeline, but we have some advice on how to examine the damage so you can come up with an estimated time on how long you've had water in the damaged space.
Tips On Damage Induced by Water - Determine its Age
The following tips can help you gain insight in figuring out whether your water damage is new or old:
- History of the House: An old residence may already have some previous damage caused from water, so it's important to keep track of what's there and to note if the damage changes over a period of time. Keeping track of the weather is a good idea too, because if you have a a slow leak, it can take months for a spot to appear. Taking note of your water damages can save you lots of time when figuring out whether your water damage is new or old.
- 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 location like a downpour. Water spots can take some time to occur if it's a slight leak. An older home may have some water spots that were sustained previously. So it's fundamental to keep track of the spots you notice while figuring out whether this is old water damage or old water damage.
- Touch the Spot: You'll can establish whether your water damage is new or old just by feeling it. An old spot will be squishy because the material has absorbed a lot of water. A new spot will be moist, but the material will still have a solid feel to it.
- Look for Rings: Remember how tree rings show how old a tree is? The same approach can be used towards spots created by water. An old water spot will have rings around it. They will also be shaded differently because the area gets wet then dries and gets wet again then dries again, etc. A new spot will be dark with no rings around it.
- Examine the Materials: Get to know the material around your property, because water and moisture can become trapped by tiles and thick paint. So if spots produced by water show up through these types of materials, this indicates the buildup of water has remained for awhile.
- Mold Inspection: If you see that bacteria is there, your water damage has lingered for about two to three days.
- Rot: Deteriorated material indicates that your water damage is either a repeat offender or that it's extensive because there's standing water. A first instance of water damage usually won't lead to decomposition.
Get Rid of Water Damage & Call Paul
The degree of your water damage doesn't matter, Paul Davis is here to help. Our team of professional water damage restoration technicians can resolve the issue and have your property in a good state. Fix the issue today before it gets even worse and contact us at +1-403-696-8886 for a local franchise in your location.
