Water Damage?
When out to buy or sell a home, it is super important to check for water damage. It might seem like it is not so bad a threat, after all, a little water never hurt anyone. But that is far from the case. It can destroy everything, from walls to floors and can cause permanent structural damage to a building.
Water damage is a silent property killer. It is the worst thing to happen to your home. And it is unforgiving in it’s destructive powers, being able to rack up crazy costs in repairs. Knowing the dangers, it makes sense that you would want to keep an eye out for it to snip it at the roots before it takes you by surprise and gets too far.
Although water damage can show up anywhere, there are a few known areas which are good places to start looking:
Walls
Walls are probably the easiest places to spot water damage in a home. To know if you have water damage using your walls, simply search your walls for water stains. Check around door and window frames for any signs of such, and if you do find any, you should call a professional immediately. It could be a pipe leaking in the wall, and that could easily lead to bigger problems such as cracks in the wall, and swelling. If you check and you find cracks and swelling, then you definitely have a water damage problem.
Floors
Unfortunately, no floor is safe from water damage. From carpeting to flooring, always check your floors for water damage. Water damage in your floors can go down into your sub floor and destroy your foundations even. Check for any buckling and warping most importantly down in the basement. Also look out for white patches, or dark stains, and be wary of moist, moldy smells. These are all signs of water damage.
Piping
Another very important step is to look over your pipes. Check out the pipes in the kitchen under your sink (this is a real danger zone, you could have a leak that would be destroying the wall beneath the sink and you’d never know) check your bathrooms, your basement, and the laundry room. Go over your water heater as well, sometimes there could be wet spots on the floor or a rusty tank. The caulking around fixtures such as taps should also be checked, a missing caulking could lead to a leak.
Basement
The basement is a very common place for water damage to rear it’s ugly head, so this part definitely needs your special attention. Water damage in basements includes damage to the floors, walls, furniture and baseboards. The basement is also a very easy place for mold to grow as it is covered with mold friendly material like old furniture and old clothing. This mold can become a serious health hazard, not to mention ruin your chances of ever doing a yard sale since everything would be ruined. Make sure to keep an eye out for rust, stains, odors, dampness ans cracks. These are signs of water damage for sure.
Attic
The attic, just like the basement, is a part of the house prone to water damage. Nobody ever really goes up there and it is also stock full of things you might want to resell. Look for any mold on old fabric and furniture, stains on walls, and give particular attention to those valleys joining two roof planes. Check out the spots where the roof meets the walls and all around vents and chimneys too. Insulation should always be dry and working properly. If you live in a cold climate, it is a great idea as ice could form in dams on the roof which can then leak into the attic.
Outside the house
The inside of the home is super important of course, but the outside should be carefully checked as well. Nobody can be too careful. Check the roof for any damaged flashing and missing, curled, or cracked shingles. Standing water (a puddle where there is no rain” could mean that there is a problem somewhere. It could be from poor drainage in your yard, or that your gutter spouts don’t run far away enough from your house to dispose of water. It could also be leaky rain gutters. For the best effect, houses should always be at the highest point of the property, so that it is natural for water to slope away from it.
The Takeaway
If you discover water damage in your home, the next step is to go about stopping the damage, and doing repairs everywhere necessary. You could choose to go about this yourself and attempt to fix it, but the best bet, is to call Dry Effect to handle it. A water damage restoration company has tools necessary to find damage even where it is not easily seen and fix it. You would not lift a finger, and get your house in great shape again.
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