Understanding water damage takes a lot more than simply observing your damaged property.
You must first find the root cause of the problem, then you can address the water damage cleanup.
The 3 primary classifications of water that cause damage are: clean water, gray water, and black water.
Clean is obviously the least toxic, gray is in the middle and black water is toxic.
One of the best tools for understanding water damage is your nose! It is remarkable how sensitive the sense of smell is to pick up the odors of mildew, mold, fungi, and bacteria.
This odor is a symptom that you should not ignore.
It is much easier to prevent a problem than fix it later on! Clean water: Understanding water damage Clean water damage is usually the result of excessive rain water or a burst pipe.
Clean water is non-toxic and contains no contaminants.
This does not mean that it is incapable of doing tremendous damage though.
Then there is the issue of electronics, such as your iPhone, Blackberry, laptop computer, and cell phone.
More often than might be expected, these are dropped in sinks, toilets, and puddles.
It is extremely annoying to attempt repairing one of these devices, and sometimes it is not possible.
Hot tip! You might fix water damage to your iPhone or other device by putting it in the refrigerator! This is because the fridge removes moisture from the air.
Just remove the cover and battery and put everything in overnight.
Sometimes this works, but not always.
Gray water: Understanding water damage Typically, gray water comes from your dishwasher, clothes washer, and sink water.
Gray water can contain low level contaminants.
Cleaning up with soap and water is normally sufficient, once you have removed the source of the problem.
Other things, such as ceiling damage, flooring damage, or stained walls are a different matter altogether.
You should be able to find some good ideas for repairs, inspections, and other services.
Black water: Understanding water damage Black water comes from things like toilets that overflow, sewers that have backed up, or flood waters.
This water contains toxic contaminants, and care should be taken to avoid contact, it is harmful to your health.
The greater the level of contaminants, the more severe the problem.
So, no matter what type of water damage you experience, it is made worse by higher levels of contaminants.
Once you stop the damage at it's source, you can minimize the health hazards by a thorough cleaning up.
Normally, the use of anti-bacterial soap and water are enough to solve the problem.
Bacteria, mold and fungi Very often, these nasty organisms are forgotten about in the process of water damage cleanup.
This is unfortunate because the health problems can be quite severe as a result.
As long as these living organisms have a suitable place to grow, they will continue to be a problem.
Their unpleasant odor and spores can linger for quite some time, causing annoying problems.
The effects of bacteria, mold and fungi can actually be severe enough to cause a house to be unfit for habitation.
If there is no treatment and restoration done, demolition is the only cure.
Families who suffer from allergies, poor health and asthma frequently report that their overall health improves dramatically when they are away from home for an extended period of time.
When they return home, the sneezing, headaches and other reactions return.
Sometimes the remedy for water damage can be as simple as a ceiling fan in the bathroom, yet there are other times when the solution is quite involved and expensive.
In any case, water damage to your home or office will only get worse if left untreated.
The time and money used to prevent further damage is well spent, it only gets more expensive and complicated if left alone.