Water damage if not treated immediately can have catastrophic effects and leave damage throughout your property.

What is Water Damage?

Water damage can happen through a variety of issues, leaky roofs, overflowing washing machines, clogged toilets, faulty pipework and leaky dishwashers are all culprits of causing water damage. So it’s important that if you see any signs of these problems or have noticed them that you contact Baker Smith Plumbing and Heating Engineers or a builder if you are having problems with your roofing or building foundations.

Water damage can destroy most things in it’s path if given the chance which is why most homeowners take out flood and water damage insurance before moving into a new home. So if you’re worried about water inside your home or think that you could have a water damage problem we have compiled a list of what water damage can do to your home with the time frames given and how you can address the issue, so keep reading!

Within Minutes

If water has gotten into your home, whether it be a small amount or a significant amount it’s crucial that you act fast and address the problem immediately rather than putting it off for another time.

Water Contamination Spreads Fast

One of the worst things about water damage is not only what it can do to your home, but also the things that it can bring in with it. Water is easily contaminated so to eliminate the risk of illness or worse you should have the water removed, and your home deeply cleansed straight after.

If you toilet is clogged up or there has been a problem with the sewage pipes within your area, and they have leaked into your home do not attempt to clean up the water. Sewage water is filled with all kinds of bacteria and illnesses from your toilet and other peoples toilets, contact a professional and have them deal with it.

Moisture Sensitive Materials Will Start Discolouring

Just like any materials or objects that get wet, things like your furniture or clothes can quickly start to discolour once they have been wet. If this happens in your home call a professional straight away before the water leak worsens and contact your local dry cleaners to ask if there’s anything they can do to help you with any sensitive clothing.

Within Hours

After hours of having water in your home, the damage can begin to become more problematic, in this time you should have contacted a plumber or contractor depending on where the issue is coming from.

Furniture In Direct Contact Will Become Damaged Or Swell Up

Things like tables, chairs, sofas and other items of furniture after a few hours will begin to absorb the water, in the cases of wooden furniture, this will cause it to swell.

Odours And Damp Begins To Become Apparent

The beginning of damp will begin to settle into your home, creating a dampened musky aroma within your property.

Fabric Colourings Begin To Bleed Out

This is bad news for both furniture as well as clothing; if you have a vibrant coloured living room sofa, then the colours will begin to bleed out and discolour if left long enough, then the section of your property left in water become discoloured entirely over time.

After A Few Days

After a few days, the problems with water in your home are going to be getting really serious; it will begin to damage everything in it’s path and make your home hazardous.

Paint Blisters And Wall Peeling

If the water is within reach of your walls, then it will begin to seep in and affect the paint or wallpaper, paint bubbles will appear, and the wallpaper will begin to unstick and peel away from the wall.

Fungi Grows And The Smell Worsens

When fungi begins to grow in your home the problem has escalated to almost it’s worst, fungi are extremely dangerous and can grow in a lot of different forms that can cause health and respiratory problems for you and your family. The damp smell will also begin to worsen alongside the bacteria making your home practically uninhabitable.

Severe Wood Warping

As for all the wooden furniture in your home, after a few days, it would have swollen and warped so much that it may not be salvageable. As for wooden flooring, you may need to completely strip out and replace your entire flooring after it has absorbed so much water and the mould and damp will be non-removable from the flooring slabs.

After A Number Of Weeks

After leaving water damage in your home for weeks on end, it’s going to take a lot of work and repairs to get your home back in good shape.

Mold Sinks Into Flooring And Organic Materials

At this point it’s quite possible that the water will set into your skirting boards, flooring and the foundations of your home – this is a massive problem as it makes home repairs really difficult and in certain circumstances beyond repair.

Home Evacuation

By now everybody in the property will have been evacuated not only due to safety hazards but also health, mould and damp will be growing in the full swing now that can be toxic to you and your family.

You Could Need To Completely Gut Your Home

After leaving your home with this issue for a number of weeks your only option could be to gut your entire property, this includes disposing of all furniture and electricals that have been damaged in the progress. As well as ripping up all the flooring and checking wall cavities for mould in the insulation and walls, this can be a huge problem so you should never let your home get to this stage.

Keep Your Home Safe From Water Damage

It’s important that at first signs you see of water damage that you sort them out straight away so that your home does not get to this level of damage. If you think there is a problem with any of the plumbing in your home be sure to contact Baker Smith Plumbing and Heating Engineers to address the situation and give you advice on what you should do.