If you’ve experienced any kind of serious water damage in Overland Park, KS, you know it only takes a few moments for that damage to occur. The moment something gets wet, there can be instant consequences. Other consequences, however, can develop over the following days, weeks, and months if the water damage is not handled properly. Keep reading to learn more about the potential short-term and long-term consequences of water damage.
Property Damage
The very first thing you’ll think about when you find a part of your home flooded is likely going to be the damage to your property. Water destroys many things in a home, from the building materials (carpets, carpet padding, wood floors, drywall, etc.) to the items inside the room (furniture, rugs, bedding, photographs, books, documents, clothes, etc.). While hard, nonporous items might not suffer much from water damage, most people will have at least some property losses as the result of water damage in the home—and it occurs the moment the water enters the room.
Electrical Damage
While you could consider this an aspect of property damage, we wanted to list it separately due to the fact that this damage can lead to secondary damage to your property. As you likely know, water and electricity do not mix well. Wet electrical lines lead to shorts and can cause electrical shocks to people in the flooded areas of your home. It’s important that electricity is immediately shut off to any flooded parts of your home, and the lines are inspected before turning it back on. Otherwise, you could endanger your family and your property if a damaged line sparks an electrical fire.
Unpleasant Odors
Have you ever found a damp rag that never properly got hung up to dry? What about a sponge that’s been used a bit too long? If you’re familiar with that foul, musty odor, you know you don’t want it in your home. But if you don’t properly dry out water-damaged property, that’s just what you’re going to get. Proper drying can be a time-consuming and tedious process; you have to dry out everything you hope to keep, from your books to your baseboards. But cutting corners in the process will only lead to a persistent, musty smell throughout the area.
Mold Growth
A part of that musty odor is likely to come from mold, which loves to grow in any spaces where moisture lingers. For example, if you think you dried out your carpets properly, but you don’t pull them up to ensure the pad beneath got dry, mold is certain to grow there. This not only contributes to that musty smell, but the mold spores can be hazardous to your family’s health—especially for anyone who has allergies or respiratory conditions like asthma.
While you can’t necessarily prevent the immediate side effects of water damage, you can prevent the long-term consequences by working with water damage contractors in Overland Park, KS, early on in the process. Contact Emergency Mitigation Services to ensure your property is dried out properly.