5 Most Common Sites Of Water Damage
Water damage is something that can happen just about anywhere with the right weather conditions. No basement, for example, will be protected against a full-scale flood that comes to the roof of a home. On the other hand, other types of water damage are easily preventable for people that care about the investment of their home or business property.
If you want to make sure your property isn’t victim to water damage that can be easily avoided, here are five parts of any building that are more prone to causing these issues and should be inspected.
Five Main Areas Of Residential and Commercial Water Damage
Clogged Gutters
A good building design is about moving rainfall away from the building. For homes and commercial structures, this involves a drainage system that uses pipes to carry the water away. For example, the gutter is an open pipe that receives rainfall from sloped roofs for most homes, efficiently using gravity to move the water out.
However, because gutters are typically exposed, this can mean falling leaves in autumn can block them. A blocked drain allows water to run down the side of the building and into the ground near the foundation.
A Foundation Leak
Logically following the first source of water damage, inspecting a foundation for water damage is another common area to consider. If the property owner desires it, modern buildings can be constructed and treated to be more resistant to water. However, older buildings don’t enjoy this kind of modern protection.
Even if an area doesn’t experience a flood, heavy rainfall and snow can permeate the ground with a lot of water. This water can, with time, fracture and erode foundations, allowing water into a building and creating water damage in the basement, cellar, or crawlspace areas.
Leaking Roof
Many homes have shingles, while commercial buildings use any number of asphalt or metal solutions for roofing. However, these solutions are not indestructible. Given enough time, or inadequate maintenance, shingles can detach, or animal life can damage a roof, allowing water in. Water damage from the roof is commonly overlooked because many property owners don’t regularly inspect these areas, meaning the water could be leaking in for months or even years.
Pipe Leak
Like roof damage, water damage from pipes can sometimes go great lengths of time without being detected. A break in a water pipe means that water going to your faucets or even laundry machines are slowly leaking somewhere in the home. This can eventually lead to mold formation or stain and discolor parts of the house where the leak occurs, such as a wall.
Drainage pipes, however, are even more dangerous. Used water from toilets, for example, if they leak out in some portion of the property, creates an immediate health hazard. In addition, human and animal waste contains contagious viruses and bacteria that put everyone at risk.
HVAC System Leak
If everything is in working order, a good HVAC system keeps you warm in the winter and cool in the summer. However, if an HVAC system is working incorrectly or not properly maintained, it can create moisture within the ducts that can lead to water damage and even mold formation.
Call Us For Emergency Water Damage Cleanup
If you need water damage addressed in your home or business, contact Capital Property Recovery and we’ll assess the problem, provide a solution, clean up the water, and get your property restored back to the way it was before the damage occurred.
