Water Damage – How Old is it? – Find Out by Following These Tips

A typical problem that a lot of residences confront is some form of damage caused by water. As water damage repair professionals, Paul Davis knows the problems that water damage generates, especially when it can’t be seen. Your property has pipes running throughout it, including the inside of your walls and ceilings. When these pipes have condensation on them or a leak, they can begin to corrode your walls and ceilings. One of the more hard aspects to this is verifying whether or not the damage caused by water is new or old.

You can detect how new or old your water problems are by examining the water damage itself since the pipes are hidden. Unfortunately, it’s difficult to figure out a precise timeline, but we have some guidance on how to evaluate the damage so you can come up with an approximate time on how long you’ve had water in the area.

Find Out the Age of Your Water Damage

You can figure out an approximate age of the damage generated from water by taking these steps:

  • History of the House: Keep track of any spots on your ceiling or walls and take into account any strong weather you had in your location such as heavy rain. Damages and spots caused by water can take months to appear if the leak is small. An older home could have some water spots and damages that were sustained previously. So it’s critical to take note of the spots you see while figuring out whether this is old water damage or old water damage.
  • History of the House: Keep track of any spots on your ceiling or walls and take into account any strong weather you had in your location such as heavy rain. Damages and spots caused by water can take months to appear if the leak is small. An older home could have some water spots and damages that were sustained previously. So it’s critical to take note of the spots you see while figuring out whether this is old water damage or old water damage.
  • Touch the Spot: If the water spot is old, it will be squishy and mushy because during the time of the water leak, your drywall or ceiling has taken in a good amount of water. You’ll feel moisture with a newer spot but it won’t be soft like an older spot.
  • Look for Rings: If you see just one darker spot with zero rings around it, this demonstrates that the damage caused by water is new. Older damage caused by water usually has rings around it, and like trees, the more rings indicates the age. Different shades and colors of rings exhibits that the spot has been saturated, dried, saturated, dried, etc.
  • Examine the Materials: Materials such as thick paint and tiles can actually trap water and moisture, so if you have a spot created by water leaking through one of these, this can indicate there’s been water lingering for a period of time. Knowing the materials can help you focus on your water damage problems more efficiently.
  • Mold Inspection: When bacteria has had time to inhabit the space, this implies the damage caused by water has been present for nearly two to three days.
  • Deterioration: Rotting material indicates that the damage caused by water is either occurring on a regular basis or that it’s serious because there’s standing water. A first instance of damage caused by water typically won’t lead to decay.

Water Damage Restoration Contractors – Contact Paul Davis Today

For all your water damage repair emergencies, contact Paul Davis. When there’s a leak that you can’t find, it’s vital to get in touch with a professional. The expert team at Paul Davis has the know-how and response time required to get your house back in order. For a local franchise near your location, call us at 989-894-4450 and we’ll get an expert for your assistance.