Water damage is the creeping, insidious fear of every homeowner. A leak or flood in your home can be devastating. Repairs are costly, and sometimes you don’t even know water damage is happening until it’s too late.
Whether the water trickles or pours, here are five essential things every homeowner should know about water damage.
1. Category & Class
Water damage has two identifying features: class and category. Classes one through four tell you about the rate of evaporation and the square footage affected, while the category defines the type of water.
Cat 1: Clean water. Stems from a sanitary source and doesn’t pose immediate health risks.
Cat 2: Grey water. Rainwater, sump pump runoff, or toilet water containing urine.
Cat 3: Black water. Highly contaminated, toxic, and dangerous, containing pathogenic material like feces or pesticides.
2. Mold
Water damage is bad enough, but secondary damage from mold can make things worse. Toxic spores can be just as dangerous to your health as to your property. Mold thrives in damp carpets and drywall. You have a window of about 24 to 48 hours before mold sets in, so the water needs to be cleaned up, and the area dried immediately.
3. Respond Immediately
Water damage in your home is a ticking time bomb. As soon as you become aware of the damage, you have to act quickly. The longer it sits, the worse the situation will become, so you need to get the experts in ASAP to dry the affected areas. Remediation and restoration services will be able to deal with the damage if you call them in quickly enough.
4. Insurance
If you know you have water damage, inform your insurance company immediately. Keep in mind that not every insurance policy covers some types of water damage. Usually, insurance covers sudden, unexpected events, like an overflowing toilet or a torrential storm. Damage stemming from household neglect, like an unattended leaky faucet, often won’t be covered. Floods usually fall under a separate policy altogether.
5. Preventing Future Damage
Sometimes, water damage is unavoidable. To minimize the potential, keep your gutters and downspouts clear, maintain your appliances to avoid leaks, and install leak detection devices.
And when disaster strikes, make sure you call on the pros. Priority Titans are ready to respond to all your water damage, fire, mold, and disaster remediation needs.