Water Damage Inside Your Andover Home's Walls

5/23/2017 (Permalink)

When your home suffers from water damage, not only are your floors affected, but usually, the walls are as well.

Water Damage Inside Your Walls

When your home suffers from water damage, not only are your floors affected, but usually, the walls are as well. The damage can be obvious, but many times it is hidden and can be missed to the untrained eye.

Therefore, you need to call professionals such as SERVPRO to inspect your Andover home after any water damage has occurred. The first steps our technicians at SERVPRO need to take is to figure out how much damage you have. Water which enters at ground level covers the floor and floor covering, then starts to wick up the wall. How much wicking occurs depends upon the construction of the wall, how much water there is, and its height on the wall.

An absorbent material, drywall is constructed of a gypsum core and paper which is like cardboard on either side. The water is likely on both sides and many times higher on the inside from restricted evaporation. Water is sometimes visible, but other times the wall shows no signs of moisture.

At SERVPRO, we have a broad range of professional metering equipment so we can evaluate the damage. A non-invasive moisture meter uses radio waves to test for the presence of water. Another instrument is the infrared camera. The camera can find water in walls since evaporation from wet walls makes them cooler than dry ones.

After the wet walls are found, drying equipment is brought in. Without the presence of insulation, walls can be dried without removing the baseboard and without holes. We use high capacity air movers along each wall, reducing the water molecules from the wall surface and letting more evaporation happen as soon as possible.

Our techs also use one or more dehumidifiers in your home. Such machines lower the humidity levels to help with drying and to prevent mold from growing. When needed, we can install an inner-wall drying system, using small holes over the sill plate and forcing air into the cavity of the wall. Studies have shown this is the fastest way to dry walls that have been damaged by water.

Regardless of where the water came from, call SERVPRO of Coon Rapids / Central Anoka County right away so we can mitigate your loss. You can reach us anytime at you need at (763) 712-9712.

For more information about Andover, Minnesota click http://www.ci.andover.mn.us/