The Different Types of Water Damage and How to Address Them

The Different Types of Water Damage and How to Address Them

What is Water Damage?

Water damage is the damage caused to the structures of a building, appliances, or electronic devices due to the penetration of water into them. This water infiltration can occur for many reasons, such as pipe bursting, floods, heavy rains, and appliance malfunctions. 

When water enters a property, it causes huge destruction in the building’s foundation and destroys walls, drywall, roofing, electrical systems, and furniture, leading to costly repairs. You can avoid these costly repairs by hiring a professional water damage repair service to fix water damage issues promptly. 

Let us talk about the types of water damage for knowing about them will help you avoid water damage problems;

Want to know the types of water damage?  

Many types of water damage occur in our homes and commercial buildings and cause sudden havoc without even getting noticed! Let us discuss the five most commonly occurring types of water damage to help you save your property from water woes;

1.    Clean Water Damage

Clean water damage occurs when clean and uncontaminated water comes into contact with your building structures and contents. This type of water damage is very common and occurs due to broken plumbing fixtures, leaky roofs, and broken windows or doors. Water overflow from these broken fixtures and structures damages your building's ceilings, walls, furniture, and other structures. 

This water, if not removed and stopped promptly, can also cause water ponds, inviting mold to make a home and spreading health problems.

 How to Address Clean Water Damage?

Clean water damage is easy to address if the water is properly removed and the source of the leakage is fixed. You can do it yourself if it is a minor issue, but if the problem is big, you need a professional to fix it. Professional water damage restoration experts use high-end vacuums to extract water properly and fix the leakage source, providing you with a dry and clean space to live in.  

2.    Grey Water Damage

This type of water damage occurs when the leaky water contains some degree of contamination that is not safe for humans or building structures. Grey water damage occurs when harmful chemicals coming out of broken appliances, such as broken washing machines, mix with water. It also occurs due to dirty water from overflowing sinks. This contaminated water spreads bacteria and causes mold and bugs to destroy your health and home. 

How to Address Grey Water Damage?

If you don’t address grey water damage, it can turn into the worst kind of water damage, called "black water damage," which can prove fatal. Professional help is a must to fix grey water damage. Only a professional water damage restoration service can address this problem through proper assessment, drying, and disinfection using specialized tools and disinfectants. 

3.    Black Water Damage

This is the most hazardous type of water damage, as it involves water that is highly contaminated with bacteria, fungi, and other fatal pathogens. Sewage backups, toilet overflows, storm surges, river overflooding, and stagnant water ponds can all be contributing factors. Black water damage can pose serious health risks and cause irrecoverable loss of your home’s items, such as mold-grown furniture, contaminated ceilings, damaged drywall, and many more. Therefore, it requires urgent remediation services to fix the black water damage problem. 

How to Address Black Water Damage?

 Trying DIY to fix black water damage is risky, as it can cause serious allergic reactions due to the harmful bacteria in black water. Only an expert water damage restoration service can fix it using their professional knowledge and safety precautions. So, don't wait and let the black water do its black magic; call the experts immediately if you're experiencing black water damage problems. 

4.    Slow Water Damage

As its name implies, "slow water damage" gradually occurs and passively destroys your property's structure. It occurs normally due to a leaky plumbing fixture from which water leaks constantly. This constantly leaking water penetrates your building's foundation, walls, and other structures, ponding there and allowing mold to grow and destroy your peace. 

How to Address Slow Water Damage?

This type of damage remains unnoticed until it causes a big problem, such as roof leaks or foundation cracks, and shakes your wallet. You can avoid such problems by having leaky water sources and broken plumbing fixtures fixed promptly. 

5.    Fast Water Damage

Fast water damage is very common in the USA due to harsh weather conditions such as heavy rainfall, snowfall, floods, and storms. These harsh weather conditions can cause water pipes to burst suddenly, cause overflooding, and destroy your valuables. This overflowing water, if left standing for a long period on your property, can cause irrevocable damage. 

How to Address Fast Water Damage?

In a weather emergency, it is typical for water damage to spread quickly, but calling a water restoration service right away can lessen the damage it can cause. They will do complete water extraction, drying, and restoration to get your property back to its pre-damage condition without costing a fortune. 

Do You Want to Know Which of Your Valuables Are Damaged Normally Due to Water Infiltration?

Let me tell you which valuables are prone to water damage to help you play it safe. The most common sources of water, when it starts entering your property, are your building's walls, ceilings, drywall, appliances, electrical system, gadgets, building foundation, and more. To eliminate water damage problems from your life, get regular inspections done by the experts at your property. 

Not just weather disasters and plumbing overflows can result in water damage to your building's structure; occasionally, water damage can also affect your portable electronics, such as your iPhone. Such water damage occurs due to rainwater or spilled water penetrating your gadget and not being removed and dried on time. Instead of waiting and risking losing your iPhone to water, have it restored right away by a qualified water restoration expert.

To conclude, I must say that water damage problems can occur at any time with anyone, but things go wrong when people leave these problems untreated and cause them to grow and eat their wallets. So, don't put your health and your property's wellness at stake; immediately call professional water damage restoration experts when you witness even a minor sign of water damage at your property.

 

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