After the Rain

Severe, continued rains can cause water damage in buildings.  The most common entry points are:  (1) roof leaks, (2) poor window seals, and (3) water puddling adjacent to exterior walls.  

If water has entered your building, you can take immediate steps to lessen the effects of the damage:

1. Most important, identify walls that have become wet.  Moisture usually collects along baseboards, wicking up the wallboard for a foot or two.  A moisture meter will be useful for this initial assessment.

2.  Wherever possible, remove wet wallboard quickly, then clean and dry the inner wall space.  If you've had to wait more than a week to strip that wallboard, carefully inspect the back (inner) side of the wallboard for signs of mold (which usually starts as small, dark round spots) and discoloration.  If found, you may need an abatement contractor to complete the job, for what is often a significantly higher cost.  If you've waited more than 3 weeks, you should probably bring one on board right away. 

(We're not overly encouraged by restoration contractors who drill holes in walls and then try to dry the inner wall space with fans and dehumidifiers.  Particularly when wet insulation is present, these efforts are rarely as effective as removing the wet walls, and are often much more expensive.)

3.  Assuming you were able to strip the wallboard prior to any mold growth, use that drying time to identify and correct the source of the water intrusion.  Make sure the area is dry before installing new materials. 

4.  The above 3 steps are your best defense against future mold growth, and will help keep a small problem from becoming a very large one.  Contact our office for additional information. 

And by the way, unlike wallboard paper (an excellent host for mold growth), soaked carpet is generally a poor host.  Tacked down carpet that has become soaked can sometimes be lifted and dried.  Removal of glued-down carpet is much more difficult, and may not be necessary if the carpet is on a concrete substrate.  Here, thoroughly wet-vacuuming and dehumidifiers are probably appropriate.