Flooded house during May showers can bring summer mold.
Many times a homeowner who suffers water damage in their home will attempt the drying out process on their own. While they have good intentions, they don’t always know exactly which materials are wet or affected. Water damage goes deep below the surface, and can be difficult to find unless you’re an experienced professional.
A homeowner can shop vacuum for hours to suck all of the water out of wet carpet. Surprise. Days later it’s still wet or damp. They are shocked when they see the gallons of water we pull out of their carpet with our weighted extraction machines.
The more water you can extract from your carpet and pad the faster it’s going to dry along with the other structural materials in the room. Homeowners lack the experience and training of a professional restoration company, not to mention the proper equipment such as moisture meters. These meters detect the surfaces that are affected by water, sometimes undetectable by the human eye.
Extraction and clean up should be performed within 1-2 hours of the water damage, if at all possible. Quick response is key and time is of the essence to prevent damage to contents and/or affected structural materials, ultimately to prevent mold growth.
Mold growth can occur within the first 24-48 hours, and sometimes faster in warm summer months when temperatures and humidity are higher. High temperatures and humidity levels increase the odds that mold can begin growing in your carpet, drywall or baseboards. Professional water damage restoration involves extracting the water and applying an anti-microbial product. Then we set up drying equipment and come back daily to monitor the dry out process. Proper dry out is crucial to preventing mold growth!
Mold can grow not only due to a major water event, but also a small leak. Over time, drips, leaks or high humidity levels can lead to mold growth in carpet or drywall. All mold needs to grow are the right conditions with an organic food source such as carpet and pad, wood framing and drywall.
What if a homeowner tries to perform water extraction and dry out, and they end up with mold growth? In many instances, the insurance carrier will not pay for the mold remediation because the homeowner did not show due diligence in getting proper repairs.
Throughout our years in business… after the heavy spring rains have ended… after we have spent two weeks performing water mitigation for our customers… we start getting phone calls from homeowners who were either out of town and didn’t know they had water in their basement or tried to dry it out themselves. Now they have a moldy mess behind their baseboards, on their drywall and in their carpeting and now need an estimate to remediate the mold.
