“Water damage restoration” is the industry term used for the action of restoring an area, space, or item after it has been damaged by water.
Many homes and businesses are afflicted with water damage after plumbing goes wrong or a natural disaster hits the area. However, these aren’t the only types of water damage situations that call for professional restoration services. More on this below.
When referring to water damage, it’s best to describe it as water that has impacted materials. These materials could be baseboards, drywall, wood flooring, cabinetry, ceilings, and other types of building materials.
What’s even worse, mold can grow faster when water isn’t properly cleaned up. When water has damaged your home or building, that’s when a trusted restoration company is your first call. A professional and expert water damage restoration company will clean up all of the water in and around the structure. They will dry out the affected materials and bring down the humidity levels in the air to prevent mold growth and further damages.
What Are the Common Types of Water Damage?
What incidents/events lead to water damage? There are plenty of events that can lead to water damage that naming them all is a bit unrealistic. However, here are some of the most common types of events that lead to water damage based on what we’ve personally dealt with:
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- Flooding from natural events (such as heavy rains and improper water distribution)
- Burst pipes
- Melted snow
- Sewage backups
- Fire departments using water to put out fires
- Overflow and discharge from appliances
While all of these are emergencies and must be dealt with as quickly as possible so damages don’t spread, there are different threat levels that pertain to the health and safety of lives.
- Level 1: The first threat category is water that is clean. Clean water doesn’t pose an immediate threat seeing as though threatening bacteria isn’t present. This is the most common to see in households because the water is directed from appliances or water tanks within the home. However, it still needs to be treated by a professional through drying strategies, oftentimes using less invasive, specialty drying equipment to reach behind walls and under floors so mold growth doesn’t occur.
- Level 2: This second category refers to greywater (aka sullage). This is water that has been contaminated by waste from drains such as sinks, baths, and showers. This excludes toilets. It is unhealthy and should be dealt with ASAP.
- Level 3: This third category is the most toxic and requires immediate attention for the health and safety of everyone in and around the affected area. Blackwater refers to water contaminated by human waste and excrements. Sewage backup coming from toilets or broken pipes is classified as blackwater. This is the most dangerous type of water damage situation and requires professional help from the first to last step.
All of these categories of water damage lead to material damages and possibly health problems. This is when water damage restoration is necessary.
Your trusted local water damage restoration company will clean up the entirety of water and will replace materials damaged by the water.
How Long Does it Take to Restore Water Damage?
The timeline for restoring property after water damage entirely depends on the size of the situation and a couple of other factors such as insurance and the expertise of the restoration company.
If it’s something as small as a few wet floorboards, it could be a couple of days to restore the area. If the water damage was from a flood or sewage backup, it could be months to fully restore the area.
Your restoration company of choice will provide you with an estimated timeline for the completion of the project after they’ve had a chance to inspect the situation.
How to Choose a Trustworthy Restoration Company
Obviously, if you’ve been impacted by a water damage event, the next step is to contact a restoration company you can trust. How is this done? Through a vetting process.
While recommendations are typically best, sometimes, you don’t know people that have needed to hire a restoration company. So, the best outlet is to go online and do some digging. One key point is to always trust a local restoration company. Corporations don’t fully understand the local environment and therefore, aren’t the appropriate source for a trustworthy hire.
For instance, if you live in or near the Denver, Colorado area, you’d trust Restoration 1 of Central Denver to help with your water damage problems. Why? We have the highest ratings and reviews online. We’re locally owned and operated. We are licensed and insured experts in water damage restoration. And we’re nice people to work with who actually care.
So, if you’re in need of water damage restoration experts, choose the company that will work with you. Good luck; we hope your property is restored to its previous beauty!