Materials to Prioritize During Water Removal from Topsail Beach Properties

2/10/2022 (Permalink)

Small leaks can affect everything from drywall to flooring. SERVPRO has what it takes to handle all your restoration needs.

Professionals from SERVPRO Easily Identify Vulnerable Materials at Your Topsail Beach Home

Materials in a home react differently to water exposure. Therefore, when there is a water leak at your Topsail Beach home, you can expect a wide range of changes and damages. Knowing how vulnerable the materials in your house are to moisture action helps plan an appropriate response.

The timing of water removal from your Topsail Beach home matters because damage can result from direct or indirect water exposure. Since indirect damage takes time to develop, identifying vulnerable materials in good time creates the opportunity to take preventive steps. SERVPRO provides the necessary resources to expedite water extraction.

Highly vulnerable materials to moisture fall into many categories, including:

• Hygroscopic material
• Porous materials
• Fabrics
• Composite materials

Hygroscopic materials absorb moisture from the air and can develop problems over time. Limiting the humidity levels in a house is one way to protect such materials from significant damage. When our SERVPRO technicians expedite water extraction, we save hygroscopic materials by eliminating stagnation which increases humidity levels in a house from the constant evaporation. 

Porous materials quickly absorb water when exposed. After absorption, changes start developing, including swelling, dyes running, and rusting, among others. Fabrics and wood exhibit signs of such changes faster than other materials. After the initial exposure, the material reaches an equilibrium point where it cannot absorb more, and then it starts losing moisture through evaporation, creating a different set of problems. Wood tends to warp, buckle or crack as it shrinks from moisture loss. Our SERVPRO teams can help expedite or slow down the drying rate to prevent permanent physical damage.

Some typical ways to manipulate the drying process include:

• Using drying chambers
• Dehumidification
• Increasing air currents
• Heating

Composite materials like laminated veneer lumber are made from pieces of material held together by adhesives. Moisture can cause expansion of the components or dilution of the glue, thus leading to irreversible damage. 

SERVPRO of Pender / West Onslow Counties does a thorough preliminary evaluating of your property to identify vulnerable materials and thus use water removal procedures that resolve any issue, "Like it never even happened." Call us at (910) 319-0600.