Ways to Detect if Your Water Damage is Old or New

When you have backed-up bathtubs, toilets or sinks that flood, it’s obvious that you’re in need of water damage restoration. Still, your house can come under water damage in ways that aren’t as evident. Since you have plumbing running all over your property, you can have a leaky pipe or an accumulation of condensation between your walls or ceilings. It’s a troublesome problem because this isn’t visible- you won’t notice it until you have water damage, and then it’s difficult to diagnose how long the problem has lingered.

Because the pipes aren’t visible, you can get an estimate of how long you’ve had water complications by evaluating the water damage itself. Unfortunately, it’s difficult to figure out a precise timeline, but we have some advice on how to analyze the damage so you can come up with an estimated time on how long you’ve had water in the area.

Discover the Time Frame of Your Water Damage

By taking the step-by-step process listed below, you’ll be able to indicate how new or old your water damage:

  • History of the House: If your property has any spots from water damage, it’s critical to take note of them when determining whether damage caused from water is new or old. Furthermore, you’ll want to be conscious of any weather that could bring hidden water damage to the surface like heavy rain. Know your house, since pipes with a slow drip can take awhile to surface, and if you know what’s old and what’s new, you’ll be able to diagnose your problem quicker.
  • History of the House: If your property has any spots from water damage, it’s critical to take note of them when determining whether damage caused from water is new or old. Furthermore, you’ll want to be conscious of any weather that could bring hidden water damage to the surface like heavy rain. Know your house, since pipes with a slow drip can take awhile to surface, and if you know what’s old and what’s new, you’ll be able to diagnose your problem quicker.
  • Touch the Spot: If the water spot is aged, it will be mushy and soft since during the period of the water leak, your ceiling or drywall has absorbed a good amount of water. You’ll feel wetness with a new spot but it won’t be soft to the touch.
  • Look for Rings: If you see just one dark spot with zero rings around it, this indicates that the damage caused by water is new. Old damage caused by water usually has rings around it, and like trees, the more rings indicates the age. Discolored rings exhibits that the spot has been soaked, dried, soaked, dried, etc.
  • Examine the Materials: Get to know the material around your house, since water and moisture can get trapped by tiles and thick paint. And if spots created by water show up through these, this means the buildup of moisture has been lingering for a period of time.
  • Mold Inspection: If you find that bacteria, or mold, is there, the damage caused by water has been there for approximately two to three days.
  • Decomposition: Your material doesn’t usually decay by the first occurrence of damage produced by water. So when there has been rot, this means your material has been susceptible to consistent flooding or standing water.

Eradicate Damage Generated from Water & Call Paul

For any water damage restoration emergencies, get in touch with Paul Davis. If there’s a pipe dripping that you can’t find, it’s fundamental to contact an expert. The expert team at Paul Davis has the experience and response time required to get your property back in order. For a local franchise near your location, give us a call at (757) 220-2660 and we’ll get a professional to come help you.