Water Damage Experts Answer 8 Common Questions About Water Damage

Sept. 7, 2009 - PRLog -- Wake Forest, NC – The restoration experts of the Water Damage Team are hoping to help Americans across the country by proving answers to common questions about water damage.

“We get so many questions from clients and inquiring parties about water damage, that we decided to make a list of some of our more popular ones,” notes David Beavers of the Water Damage Team. “While not every question you may have is answered below, you can always refer to our previous blogs and articles for more tips and advice on water, flood, and fire damage in your home.”

1. What causes water damage?
One or many things can cause water damage at once. Obvious causes would be a flood, a burst pipe, or flooded basement. However, water damage can also result in your walls, around your home, or behind water-run appliances. Factors could include an uneven grade around your home, leading to structural damage, or even a hole in your roof, leading to a leak in your attic. The only way to prevent these causes is to do a routine check of your property.

2. Should I contact my insurance after discovering water damage?
Yes, you should contact your insurance company as soon as possible. If the damage if sufficient enough to hire professional help from water damage experts, you should also call them immediately. Your insurance providers will want you to do everything possible immediately to prevent further damage.

3. What evidence do I need to collect for my claim?
Each insurance company does things a little differently, but if you need to call in water damage experts especially, you should at least snap some pictures. Make sure you have pictures of where the most damage occurred, and any spots where water entered your home from the outside. In addition, try to get an insurance agent out as soon as possible to asses the damage.

4. How harmful are cleaning chemicals for kids/pets
Children and pets should not be exposed to cleaning chemicals used to clean away water damage and mold. If you need to remain in your home during the cleaning process, be sure to have a talk with your children about this, and keep the pets in another room.

5. What is safe to keep after being damaged by water?
A lot of customers ask us what is safe to keep and what needs to be thrown away after water damage or a flood. While the list goes on and on, there are a few main pointers to keep in mind. While most kitchen utensils and supper-ware can be spared, any wood or plastic should be thrown out. This goes especially for plastic sippy cups, pacifiers, or straws. When it comes to furniture and clothing, response time and damage are major factors. Refer to our previous post  on how to clean mold out of spoiled fabrics for more info.

6. How do I find hidden water damage?
While the name suggests otherwise, hidden water damage can be easy to find if you know where to look. Get in to the habit of routinely checking your walls, behind appliances, the outside of your home, and under all sinks for mold or water damage. Doing this routinely could save you thousands if you catch the problem while it is small.

7. How should one proceed in sewage damage?
Sewage damage is highly hazardous and should never be touched or walked through. Be sure all children and pets go nowhere near the damage itself, and if you do aid in cleaning it, be sure to be fully and properly protected from debris as well as potentially harmful spores.

8. Are all molds harmful?
Yes and no. While there are molds that are harmless, any small mold problem caused by water damage could become a big one over time. Unfortunately, mold is not the sort of thing that just goes away over time. Any mold discovered in or around your home should be eliminated immediately, and monitored for potential re-growth.

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The Water Damage Team is a nation wide disaster restoration company, with years of experience in water removal and water drying. As well as storm damage clean up, contaminated water removal, structural drying, debris removal and mold remediation.