Pro Water Damage Restoration Advice - How Old Are Your Water Spots?

When you have clogged sinks, bathtubs or toilets that flood, it's obvious that you're in need of water damage restoration. Though, your home can suffer from water damage in ways that aren't as apparent. Because you have pipes running through your property, you can have a pipe leaking or an accumulation of condensation between your walls or ceilings. It's an alarming incident since this isn't in sight- you won't recognize it until you have water damage, and then it's hard to define how long the problem has persisted.

For these spaces that can't be seen, it's challenging to verify how old or new the water damage is. After all, you could have a leaky pipe that was slightly dripping for awhile but because it's been concealed, you don't have a timeline. There's no sure way to determine exactly how long the problem has persisted, but there are approaches to approximate the age of the water damage.

Tips On Damage Produced by Water - Evaluate its Time Frame

By taking the step-by-step process listed below, you can learn how old or new your water damage:

  • History of the House: An older home might already have some previous water damage, so it's important to keep track of what's there and to note if the damage alters overtime. Tracking the weather is a good idea as well, because if you have a a slow leak, it can take awhile for a spot to surface. Taking note of your water spots and damages can save you a lot of hassle when figuring out whether the damage generated from water is old or new.
  • History of the House: Keep track of any spots on your walls or ceilings and take into account any outside influences such as a heavy rain storm. Water spots and damages can take awhile to develop if it's a slight leak. If you live in an older home, the spots generated by water damage might have been there for awhile. So it's important to keep track of the spots you observe while determining whether this is new water damage or old water damage.
  • Touch the Spot: Go ahead and touch the spot- this will disclose a lot about the age of the water damage. A newer spot will feel wet but your ceiling or drywall will still feel strong, while an older spot will be mushy and spongy since your material would have absorbed a good amount of water.
  • Look for Rings: When you see one darker spot with no rings around it, this shows that the water damage is new. Older water damage will have rings around it, and like trees, the more rings indicates the age. Discolored rings shows you that the area has been soaked, dried, soaked, dried, etc.
  • Examine the Materials: Get to know the material in your property, since water can become trapped by tiles and thick paint. So if water spots show up through these, this indicates the buildup of moisture has been lingering for a period of time.
  • Mold Inspection: If you see that bacteria is there, the damage generated by water has been there for about two to three days.
  • Deterioration: When your materials decompose from water damage, this is normally the issue of consistent flooding or standing water. Deterioration normally won't happen from the first case of a leak.

Water Damage Repair Technicians - Contact Paul Today

No matter the size of the damage generated by water, Paul Davis is here to assist. Our team of experienced water damage repair contractors can resolve the issue and have your property back in good condition. Remedy the problem today before it gets worse and call us at (403)342-4666 for a local franchise near you.