How Dangerous is Your Water Damage Problem?

After water strikes, your first step is to identify the type of water that is affecting your residence.

There are two different types of water damage . The "least" harmful is called clean water, which comes from such sources as a sump pump failure, foundation crack, appliance leak, etc. It is relatively safe if it has not been sitting untreated for more than 72 - 94 hours. If your water damage has been sitting untreated for over this time, dangerous bacteria have grown and the water should be treated as dirty water.

The second, more harmful type of water is called dirty water. This water comes from an overflowed toilet, failed ejector pump, broken sewage line, etc. This is hazardous water and must be treated with extreme caution. Still solid fecal matter may still be present, along with clumps of decomposing bath tissue. All affected materials ought to be discarded and the affected walls, baseboards, carpet, and pad need to be treated appropriately.

Regardless of what type of water you have, you need to act quickly and decisively. Water damage is progressive, meaning that the longer it goes untreated, the worse the damage becomes. Taking action quick will give you the best chance in mitigating most of the damage, along with being able to salvage water damaged furniture and other personal items.

Mold and mildew begin growing in just hours after water has first affected your home. However, if water damage is left for an extended period of time (over 7 days), this mold will multiply extremely quickly and begin to engulf your baseboards, walls, carpet, and any other item it manages to reach. The visible stain mold creates is often irreversible, even if the actual spores and organism are dead. If left untreated for over a week as mentioned above, the mold will ruin the structural integrity of your furniture to the point that the affected pieces b