Identifying The Source Of Water Damage Requires Professionals

9/15/2021 (Permalink)

It can be frustrating how far water can travel from where the actual leak has occurred. Unless the leak is discovered from an appliance or an entryway (window, door) it can be very difficult to trace the water damage back to the source. Even more so, when water damage occurs in multiple-units, like condominiums, townhomes or apartment buildings, finding the source can be almost impossible to the untrained eye. That is why you need the help of a certified professional to find the source of the water damage and to determine the best restoration solution.

When dealing with water damage in multi-unit housing every apartment is typically plumbed separately, yet shares walls, ceilings, and floors with other living spaces. Responding only to the complaint of one tenant may very well leave a ticking time bomb that will eventually spread throughout the building.

Professionals Know How To Follow The Migration Of Water

Water is often characterized as moving along the path of least resistance. Unfortunately, this does not always hold true as a number of other factors weigh in. For example, if water runs along the outside of a pipe, think condensation on a cold water supply pipe parallel to the floor in a warm, damp basement, some water will drip in a line along the expanse of the pipe to the floor. Instead of just one wet spot below the pipe, there will be many damp areas, tracing on the floor over the length of the pipe. If, on the other hand, the cold pipe is perpendicular to the floor, the condensation will tend to run down that pipe, depositing in a circle around the bottom. Other examples can result in even more varied answers. 

Since water follows pathways that are not as straightforward as expected, the Disaster Remediation Teams at SERVPRO of Saratoga Springs, Gansevoort master basic moisture detection strategies during the Institute of Inspection, Cleaning, and Restoration Certification (IICRC) training. They use detectors with and without prongs to locate the presence of moisture, helping us trace the outline of a water incursion. For added data, we also employ moisture meters to determine levels of water absorbed by permeable materials. The moisture levels become baselines for our Applied Structural Drying (ASD) technicians when we move on to determining drying goals after we remove all standing water.

When water damage strikes your commercial property it is critical to not only clean the mess, but also, fix the root cause. The Disaster Remediation Teams at SERVPRO of Saratoga Springs, Gansevoort are here to help. Contact our water remediation experts at (518) 508-1111!  We have the resources to make it, "Like it never even happened."