New-Old Water Spots – Help from Water Damage Restoration Experts
A natural complication that a lot of homes run into is some form of water damage. As water damage restoration professionals, Paul Davis understands the problems that water damage generates, especially when it isn’t in sight. Your house has plumbing everywhere, including the inside of your walls and ceilings. When these pipes have condensation on them or a leak, they can gradually corrode your walls and ceilings. One of the more hard parts to this is discovering whether the water damage is old or new.
You can establish how old or new your water problems are by examining the water damage itself since the pipes aren’t in sight. Unfortunately, it’s hard to find out an exact timeline, but we have some guidance on how to analyze the damage so you can come up with an approximate time on how long you’ve had water in the area.
Find Out the Lifetime of Your Water Damage
You can find out an estimated age of the damage produced from water by following this step-by-step process:
- History of the House: An older house could already have some previous water damage, so it’s effective to keep track of what’s there and to note if the damage alters overtime. Tracking the weather is a great idea too, since, if you have a a slow dripping pipe, it can take some time for a water spot to surface. Keeping track of your water damages can save you lots of time when pinpointing whether your water damage is old or new.
- History of the House: If your residence has any spots from water damage, it’s fundamental to keep track of them when determining whether damage caused from water is old or new. In addition, you’ll want to be apprehensive of any weather that could bring hidden water damage to the surface like a downpour. Know your home, since pipes with a slow drip can take some time to surface, and if you understand what’s new and what’s old, you’ll be able to pinpoint your problem quicker.
- Touch the Spot: If the water spot is old, it will be soft and spongy since during the time of the water leak, your ceiling or drywall has taken in a good amount of water. A newer spot will feel wet but the area won’t be soft like an older spot.
- Look for Rings: You know how rings on a tree presents the age of the tree? The same approach can be used towards spots generated by water. An older water spot is going to have rings around it. They will also be discolored since the spot gets wet then dries and gets wet again then dries again, etc. A newer spot will be darker with no rings around it.
- Examine the Materials: Materials like tiles and thick paint can actually trap water and moisture, so if you have a water spot seeping through one of these, this can indicate there’s been water lingering for a while. Being aware of the materials around your house can help you focus on your water damage issues more efficiently.
- Mold Inspection: If you see that bacteria is there, the damage produced by water has been there for nearly two to three days.
- Decay: Decaying material indicates that the damage produced by water is either a repeat offender or that it’s extensive because there’s standing water. A first instance of water damage typically won’t cause decomposition.
Get an Experienced Water Damage Restoration Specialist
The measure of the damage produced by water doesn’t matter, Paul Davis is here to help out. Our team of professional water damage restoration technicians can fix the problem and have your residence in a great state. Remedy the issue today before it gets in a worse condition and contact us at 989-894-4450 to find a local franchise near you.