Does Water Damage Worsen Overtime

When water damage happens in your Los Angeles home, you need to remedy the situation immediately before things get worse for you. Water damage creates structural problems and health issues if you don’t act on it quickly. Conversely, when you treat your water damage right away, you don’t have to worry about things getting worse for you.

Continue reading to learn everything you need about how water damage can worsen over time. We will discuss the damage caused by water in your home and why things worsen if you ignore them. Water damage restoration in Los Angeles could be your resolution to all of your home problems.

Recognize Water Damage in Your Home

Water damage can happen from external or internal sources throughout your household. The first step to treating your water damage is to recognize when it happens right away. It would be ideal for conducting monthly examinations of at-risk areas throughout your household to ensure you don’t have hidden water damage. Follow these steps to check your house for water damage periodically.

1. Check your drywall and floorboards for any bubbling. If you have laminate flooring or tile, water damage will be more noticeable because the floor will bubble up.
2. If you notice any discoloration throughout your home, this could signify mold development from water damage.
3. Wet spots on your floors or counters could indicate that you have a leak and need to seal it.
4. You might have water damage if you notice the persistent smell of mildew and specific areas of your house.
5. If your water bills sike up out of nowhere and you haven’t changed your water usage, you probably have a leak somewhere.
6. Any peeling wallpaper or paint is a strong indicator of too much moisture in your home, and you need to treat it.

After recognizing these signs, you should call a professional to help determine where your water damage comes from. Unfortunately, some mistake assuming that water damage only happens during natural outside events. Still, it’s possible and likely that your water damage comes from inside your house.

How Quickly Does Water Damage Spread?

Unfortunately, water damage spreads like wildfire, and you can notice damage to your house within one hour of the incident. For example, if you experience a household flood, you can expect mold spores to develop even if you suck up the water the same day. Mold and discoloration are the first side effects of water damage.

However, you can also expect permanent wood damage and dangerous electrical defects within a few hours. The severity of your water damage depends on where it happens and what causes the damage.

Seek an Evaluation After a Flood

Household flooding is more common than you might think because it doesn’t take a natural disaster to cause an indoor flood. Instead, flooding can happen when you have a blockage in your pipes or plugged-up drains that you aren’t aware of. Sometimes, you could even have small appliance problems like dishwashers or garbage disposals that cause your flooding.

Regardless of what causes your flood, you need to seek an evaluation shortly after to assess any water damage and treat it. If you don’t treat the water damage or get an assessment as soon as possible, the damage will spread rapidly, and you could spend thousands on repairs. Eventually, your water damage needs to be treated, or it will worsen and cost you more than your initial treatment.

When Should You Call a Professional?

If you suspect water damage in your home for any of the reasons we’ve listed in this article, then you should call a professional as soon as possible. If you wait too long, your mold damage could easily turn into rotting wood that you need to replace. Neglecting to Kate care of your water damage right away will turn a $100 job into a $1000 job, cause extreme stress, and reduce your quality of life.

You use water daily, and when you use something frequently, it needs repairs more often than things you rarely use. So not only will it cause you to pay extra money if you don’t treat your water damage right away, but it’s also unpleasant to live in a damaged house. No one wants to come home after a long day of work only to step into a moldy house that could make them sick.

How to Repair Water Damaged Walls

Water-damaged walls are unpleasant and show strong signs of worse structural damage throughout your home. Fortunately, you can treat your water-damaged walls before you call a professional if you cannot call one immediately. Treating your walls well at least removes the eyesore and makes you feel more comfortable inviting people home while you wait to afford professional treatment.

1. Use either undiluted white vinegar or bleach to clean the water damage area. However, do not combine the two chemicals because you will create a toxic gas.
2. Wipe up your cleaner after you let it set for at least an hour with a dry microfiber cloth. Do not wipe it with a wet cloth because that is counterproductive to your goal.
3. Remove any flaking paint or wallpaper from the area.
4. Sand down the surface until you don’t see any more water damage on your wall.
5. Apply your primer and repaint the area

Water-damaged walls are extremely frustrating because they are ugly and could have a gross smell. Even after you treat your wall, you should call a professional to ensure that there’s no other damage throughout your home. Treating the damage you see doesn’t mean that you’ve treated all the damage there.

Call Your Insurance Company

Before you do anything, you should call your insurance company to see if your plan covers the water damage in your home. You could lose money if you go through the steps of fixing the damage before calling your insurance company.

Contact Us Today

Choosing professionals for water damage restoration in Los Angeles has never been easier because we will give you the best service possible. Contact us today, and we can help you with any water damage needs in Westchester, Valencia, and Venice, California. The sooner you get a hold of us to fix your problems, the less water damage you’ll have to worry about. If you wait too long, water damage will worsen and cost you tons of money.