Water damage is something that can happen to any home. It can happen during a rainstorm if your roof leaks or your window seals are worn out. Water damage occurs if a pipe springs a leak behind your walls or a drain backs up and floods the sink. The longer water damage remains, the more likely it is to become permanent, impacting anything from the integrity of your walls to mold growth in hidden places. However, homeowners may not always realize that water damage has occurred if they don’t know how to spot the signs.
At Steamatic of Colorado Springs, we care about preventing water damage and restoring your home when it happens. That is why we are spotlighting the signs of water damage that every homeowner should watch out for.
Signs of Water Damage
Water damage leaves some very distinct signs. Knowing what to look for can save your home from water damage and may also identify a leak or other issue that needs to be repaired. Addressing water damage as soon as you notice it is essential to keeping your home in the best condition possible.
Water Stains
Water stains tend to show as a darkening ring around where the water has started to pool, or there has been constant water exposure. It may also look like a lighter center ring with a darkened edge as water pushes some surface grime out from the center. Water stains result in discoloration, whether water is behind the walls or leaking from the ceiling.
Humidity and Dampness
Does one area of your home always feel especially muggy? Have you noticed damp surfaces that should not be damp? These are often signs of water damage occurring invisibly in a place you don’t know how to check. The water damage could be in your carpet pad or behind your drywall, but if you sense excessive humidity and dampness, start looking.
Mold
Mold loves saturated surfaces. Realistically, mold was designed to eat dead, soaked trees in the woods, and it can’t quite tell the difference between a dead tree and a modern home. Mold will take root on anything porous and damp – like drywall, carpets, upholstery, soaked cabinet wood, and bathroom grout.
Sniff for musty and sour smells. Watch for spreading circles and speckles. If you spot mold, take immediate action, as dense spores in your air can cause health problems and eat away at your home’s building materials.
Strange Noises or Dripping
You can sometimes detect water damage without being able to see (or smell) it. Listen for the sound of pipes or dripping where it shouldn’t be. Do you hear water rushing in the wrong places? Does it sound like water dripping into a puddle behind your wall? Is there water leaking from the ceiling? These are all symptoms that water damage is present in your home.
Soft Spots on Drywall or Paint Damage
You can often detect signs of water damage in the walls by watching your paint and touching your drywall. Drywall gets soft and crumbles to mush when fully soaked by a leak, while many types of paint will either bubble or peel when too much water pools behind the painted layer.
Increase in Utility Bills
If the water damage is coming from damage to your inlet pipes, your water bills may increase. A leaky pipe behind the wall could be dumping water into your drywall. That is water coming through your water meter that the family is not using on purpose, so your water bill will appear to go up for no reason.
How to Fix Water Damage
There are two stages to water damage repair. The first is to stop the water. Find the source and get your pipes, roof, or window caulking repaired immediately so that the source of the problem is fully stopped.
The second step is to restore damage to your home. Water damage restoration services make it possible to quickly dry out your home before mold takes root. Once your home is dried out, specialists can begin replacing surfaces that have been permanently damaged, restoring surfaces, and removing any mold that may have started to grow. Steamatic of Colorado Springs has an excellent water damage restoration approach, and we are proud to have already helped many residents restore their homes from a water-related disaster.
Contact the Mold Remediation Pros in Colorado Springs
Call for mold remediation if your home shows signs of water damage in the walls, recent flooding, or musty smells. Steamatic of Colorado Springs’ mold remediation can help to fully remove mold from your home and restore each affected space to its former beauty before the water damage occurs.
Contact us today to explore your water damage restoration and mold remediation options.
Image Source: Kittima05 / Andrey_Popov / Shutterstock
