Any water damage in a home that is caused by leaks or floods deserves immediate attention. Within an hour of an uncontrolled water leak from a plumbing issue or flooding into your house, your floors, carpets, and even walls could all be soaking wet. Fast-forward to a week later, your home could be falling apart. Water damage can take a toll on your entire home.
If left unattended, your home will be uninhabitable. The best time to deal with a water leak or floods is immediately when it occurs, with safety in mind. You should drain the water out, dry out the affected spaces, and clear any damaged items in your home. The faster you can deal with it all, the less costly it will be to salvage your home from water damage.
Here are four reasons why resolving water damage in homes is critical.
Prevent Mold Growth and the Resulting Health Issues
Stagnant water and damp surfaces are prime breeding grounds for mold and other micro-orgasms. Long Island water damage restoration experts note that it can take anywhere between 24 and 48 hours for mold to develop in your property. Mold will ruin the aesthetic of your property by leaving behind marks all over your floors and walls.
Even worse, this menace comes with health concerns, especially for homes with allergy-prone individuals. It can be pretty easy for you to breathe in the mold spores, which could result in respiratory issues down the line. The fact that the stagnant water in your home might also have bacteria also makes you vulnerable to skin infections and other diseases.
Avoid Damage to Furniture
If you have valuable or antique furniture pieces, you should rush to prevent their damage. Water can ruin the appeal and structural integrity of your furniture in many ways. After a long time of exposure to water, the paint might start chipping off from your furniture. This paint could get transferred to the walls, further ruining your home’s aesthetic appeal.
Other pieces of furniture will swell when exposed to too much water. With time, mold can also grow on the pieces. All these factors slowly contribute to the structural damage of your furniture. Ideally, take your furniture out once you can get to them. You can contact restoration experts to help restore the damaged furniture pieces.
Protect Your Home’s Structural Integrity
Water damage will easily ruin wooden floors, making them weaker and a hazard to walk on them. However, this will mostly happen after a long time of exposure to water. On the other hand, unattended water leaks can not only stain your drywall but also weaken its structure.
Drywalls swell when wet, and this could misalign the seams between the different individual sheets. It is also possible for the drywall materials to pull away from the fasteners. In general, all this can increase the chances of part of your walls and ceiling collapsing.
Avoid Electrical Hazards
The last thing you need is to get electrocuted trying to save the items in your home. Water creates its own path, and it can easily reach electrical wires and boxes. This is why you should leave the water damage restoration task to professionals as they know their way around electrical wiring. At the very least, you should turn off all power at your main electrical service panel before getting into your home.
While waterproof electrical appliances might survive water damage, you risk losing any equipment that isn’t. Try and save as many appliances as you can. You should look for a dry area to place these items as well as work on fixing those that have been damaged.
Conclusion
Even though water damage isn’t something we often expect, it would be a mistake to ignore it. Whether you’re dealing with water leakage from damaged plumbing or flooding, it’s vital to take the right steps to prevent further damage to your property. Working with the right water damage restoration professionals can help you save your home.
I’m a 20-something stay-at-home mother and wife. I have an amazing husband, a beautiful daughter, two loving dogs, and a lazy cat. I wouldn’t change my life for anything! I love to read, listen to music, cook and blog!
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