What Should I Do After a Water Leak in My Home?

5/7/2020 (Permalink)

A water leak in your home can take over, call SERVPRO to help you.

You Can Contact SERVPRO to Perform Water Removal in Your Agoura Residence

Water damage can be a traumatic experience for any Agoura property owner. Being informed about the consequences of water damage and how to handle the problem can help you overcome it more efficiently.

What should I do after a water loss incident?

First, you should contact a water damage restoration company as soon as you can. Do not wait to perform water removal in your Agoura home because the water can cause irreparable damage to drywall, carpets, and appliances in your house. In any water loss incident, we seek to limit the amount of destruction, which reduces repair costs significantly and helps maintain the structural integrity of a home. Afterward, contact your insurance company to begin the claims process. If you are safe, turn off the utilities in your home to prevent additional damage. Do not walk through a pool of water if you have not turned off the electricity.

What are the consequences of water damage?

After a water intrusion incident, you may have to deal with several issues. Some consequences of a water leak include:

• Damaged belongings. There is a good chance that you need to throw away some belongings. Our technicians can sort through your belongings to determine which ones to restore and which ones to discard.

• Unsanitary conditions – Pooling water can put you and your family at risk of disease.

• Electrical damage – Water can ruin electrical wires, electrical equipment, and cause a short-circuiting hazard in your home.

• A musty, damp smell – Water within the walls can cause a damp smell. It is vital to check your walls for dampness since this can provide some indication of what is causing it.

• Mold growth – Mold thrives in humid environments. Even if it is not visible immediately, there is a chance that mold could be growing in your water-damaged house. Mold can cause health effects to you and your family.

• Structural damage – The structural damage linked with water damage can occur both in the short and long term. You can notice wall and flooring damage within a short time. However, if you do not remove water and moisture from your property quickly, it can sustain more serious structural damage.

How do your technicians handle a water removal project? 

Our SERVPRO technicians know that proper cleanup of a house from the beginning is vital for preventing severe structural damage. Some structural components may need to be replaced, while others could be salvaged. By addressing these concerns immediately, you can reduce the cost of fixing your house and ensure it is structurally safe for you and your family.

The presence of water in a home sustains and promotes microbial growth. Therefore, the main steps in water damage mitigation or remediation are:

• Drying the environment by removing moisture and minimizing humidity levels Eliminating the contaminated materials.

• Our technicians can extract the water using specialized pumps like electric submersible pumps. We can then use air movers to increase air circulation and dehumidifiers to eliminate moisture from the air. These machines expedite the drying process.

• We can then remove the damaged materials such as baseboards, drywall, insulation, and wood and dispose of them properly. Our SERVPRO team can also handle mold damage during the restoration process. This involves disinfecting the mold-infested surfaces or removing the moldy materials.

What do you do next after water removal?

We use specialized moisture detection devices to locate any remaining moisture, particularly in hard to reach areas like under carpets, floors, and behind walls to ensure thorough drying. Some of the moisture detection tools we use include:

• Moisture meters – These devices are useful for measuring the actual moisture level or moisture content in various materials. Some meters are calibrated to measure certain materials like wood.
• Moisture sensors- We use them to detect moisture in carpets and padding. They have sharp probes that penetrate through carpeting and padding to determine if there is moisture on the subfloor beneath.
• Thermal imaging cameras- We use these devices to inspect and monitor the moisture in building materials. When we start to inspect your home, these tools can enable us to see how water traveled. When completing the drying process, thermal imaging cameras help us know if the materials are dry.

Our team also cleans a property to restore it to its pre-water damage condition. Our technicians can do the following:

• Use EPA-approved cleaning agents to clean and disinfect the affected areas thoroughly.
• Use an air scrubber to reduce or eliminate airborne contaminants.
• Restore any part of your home that sustained water damage. We can manage every phase of the restoration process, including rebuilding affected areas.

SERVPRO technicians have credentials from the Institute for Inspection, Cleaning and Restoration Certification (IICRC). You can trust our expertise and experience in restoring water-damaged houses. We abide by IICRC-recommended industry standards all the time. 

When you need water removal services, the restoration experts at SERVPRO of Agoura / Calabasas / Hidden Hills can help. Call us any time at (818) 991-6292. We’re Faster To Any Size Disaster.