Expert Water Damage Restoration Tips - How Old is Your Water Damage?

When you have backed-up sinks, bathtubs or toilets that flood, it's obvious that you're in need of water damage restoration. Still, your property can sustain water damage in ways that aren't as obvious. Since you have pipes running throughout your property, you can have a pipe leaking or an accumulation of condensation between your ceilings and walls. It's an inconvenient situation because this isn't in sight- you won't know until you have water damage, and then it's difficult to diagnose how long the issue has persisted.

Because the pipes aren't visible, you can get an estimate of how long you've had water complications by examining the water damage itself. Unfortunately, it's difficult to figure out a precise timeline, but we have some guidance on how to evaluate the damage so you can come up with an approximate time on how long you've had water in the area.

A Step-by-Step On Damage Induced by Water - Learn about its Age

You can find out whether the damage produced by water is new or old by using these tips:

  • History of the House: An old property could already have some previous water damage, so it's fundamental to keep track of what's there and to note if the damage alters overtime. Keeping track of the weather is a good idea as well, since, if you have a a slow dripping pipe, it can take some time for a water spot to appear. Keeping track of your water spots and damages can save you a lot of hassle when diagnosing whether your water damage is new or old.
  • History of the House: Keep track of any spots on your walls or ceilings and take into account any outside influences like a heavy rain storm. Damages and spots derived from water can take awhile to emerge if the leak is small. If your residence is an older home, the water damage spots could have been there for some time. So it's fundamental to keep track of the spots you see while finding out whether this is new water damage or old water damage.
  • Touch the Spot: When the water spot is aged, it will be squishy and mushy since during the time of the leaking water, your drywall or ceiling has taken in a good amount of water. You'll feel wetness with a new spot but the area won't be soft to the touch.
  • Look for Rings: Outlining rings around your water damage spot presents its age. Consider it as if it was a tree- the more rings, the older the damage produced by water is. Different shadings of the spot is useful since it shows that the area leaks, dries, gets saturated, dries, so on and so forth. If it's a brand new water spot, the area will be a single blemish with no rings.
  • Examine the Materials: Get to know the material in your property, since water and moisture can become trapped by thick paint and tiles. And if spots generated by water show up through these, this means the accumulation of moisture has been lingering for awhile.
  • Mold Inspection: Bacteria development normally indicates that the damage produced by water has been present for nearly two to three days.
  • Decay: Decaying material indicates that the damage produced by water is either a repeat offender or that it's serious because there's standing water. A first instance of damage produced by water typically doesn't cause decomposition.

Get a Skillful Water Damage Repair Contractor

When you're having complications with damages that are generated by water, Paul Davis is here to assist you. It's critical to remedy any dripping pipes in your residence before the damage becomes serious. Our water damage restoration professionals can locate a leak and repair your property back to normal conditions no matter how big or small the job is. Call us today at +1-403-696-8886 and in your area is there to assist you.