Water is essential for life — when it’s in the right place at the right time. In the form of a river running through your home, the most essential thing about water is removing it!
Think most water damage in homes comes from natural disasters? Flooding from prolonged rainstorms is a hot news topic today. That might be true in Seattle, but here in Boise, yearly rainfall only averages 13 inches a year.
One of the most frequent reasons people call a Boise water damage restoration company is because they’ve had a leaking or burst plumbing pipe. Hot water tanks are another culprit. Don’t forget about overflowing toilets and clogs in the main sewer line.
When your home suffers water damage, you’ll work with a team whose primary focus is putting an end to the running water and restoring your home to a place where you can live without odor, mold, and soggy floors, walls, and ceilings.
Water damage isn’t something you can prepare for but reading our guide will help prepare you for the steps needed to restore your home.
You’ll discover it’s more a process of prepping yourself for the restoration process. The professional team you hire takes care of the rest, including prepping your home for restoration.
Send Out the SOS and Do it ASAP
Water and time don’t work well together. In cases of water damage, it’s important to act fast.
Standing water and hidden moisture create a perfect breeding ground for bacteria and mold. This isn’t good news for your home, and it’s not good news for your physical health. Hang around in a moldy environment long enough and you may end up with allergic reactions or worse.
Once you make the call for help, a team should get out to your home for an immediate inspection.
All Restoration Projects Start with an Inspection
The first thing your water damage restoration specialist will do is an onsite inspection of your home. Without a thorough inspection, neither you nor the restoration company can assess the true extent of the damage.
In some cases, the water source isn’t immediately known. An inspection helps track down where the water is coming from so the specialist can shut off the source immediately.
Water is sneaky. Flooded areas aren’t the only parts of a home to suffer damage. Water often seeps into floors, walls, and ceilings.
An inspection finds visible and invisible damage. This ensures the company can offer you the most comprehensive restoration job.
Once the inspection is complete, the restoration company can put together your restoration plan. Next, it’s time to remove the water.
Let’s Move That Water
As soon as you have a restoration plan in hand, the water removal process begins. Water removal should start as soon as possible so that you can minimize any further damage. Remember, quick water removal also helps prevent mold development.
Water extraction removes the majority of the water from your home. Depending on what caused the water damage, you may have several hundred gallons of water in your home.
Water restoration specialists use multiple tools to extract water. They may bring industrial wet-dry vacs and submersible pumps. If they use their truck-mounted vacuum unit, make sure you watch the extraction process because it sucks up water like nobody’s business.
Removing as much water as possible also helps reduce drying time.
Drying and Dehumidification
You might look around your home after the water removal process and think things look so much better without all that water. The floors and walls look dry, but looks are often deceiving, especially when dealing with drywall and wood.
If you touch the walls or floors, you’ll find they’re still wet. Drywall and wood are porous. They both can retain a large amount of water.
If they’re not dried out completely, the retained water results in warping, swelling, and even mold growth.
Restoration specialists use a combination of dehumidifiers and industrial air movers to remove this stubborn moisture. They also use moisture detection equipment to monitor drying progress.
Time for Cleanup
When you have water damage, it affects more than your ceilings, walls, and flooring.
Water can saturate your upholstered and wood furnishings. Imagine water seeping into your grandmother’s oak dining table. Water also damages clothing and other personal belongings.
If you’re a book lover, you’ll want your team to know how to salvage your collection. And they’ll determine what’s restorable and what should be discarded.
Be prepared for a few emotional moments when finding out some personal property isn’t salvageable.
The good news? Using specialized cleaning techniques, your team can get much of your personal property back to its original (but not new) condition.
Your team has antimicrobial treatments used for sanitizing your belongings. They can also remove odors with industrial cleaning tools like fogging equipment and air scrubbers.
Welcome Back to Your Home
The final step in the water damage restoration process is getting your home back to its pre-damage condition. Restoration begins after drying, cleaning, and sanitizing are complete.
This is the most exciting step for you, the homeowner, but depending on the extent of the damage, may take more time than you’ve anticipated.
Your team now must repair any structural damage. Maybe it’s replacing drywall, or maybe the water damage means completely rebuilding several rooms.
At this stage, the team also handles flooring repairs and replacements. The team also paints walls and ceilings.
Total restoration can take anywhere from a few days to several weeks.
Need Boise Water Damage Restoration?
Any damage to your home can make you feel uncertain that your home will ever be livable again.
As you can see, working with a professional team ensures your home and personal belongings get the needed TLC so that you can get back as soon as possible to your daily routines.
No matter how the water got in, you want it out! If you’re in Boise, water damage restoration professionals are waiting to help. Contact our team and let’s get your home back to normal.
