Water damage causes a lot of problems for any homeowner, even if you’re in the high desert, like the Prescott or Cottonwood areas. It leaves stains in wood, causes structural weakness, and can ruin your most treasured possessions. The worrisome part is that it can come from many common occurrences, such as:
- Heavy rains, monsoons, melting snow
- Flooding
- Busted pipes & sewer issues
- Broken appliances
- Old, leaky roofing
There are three categories of the types of water involved in any of these scenarios. It starts with Category 1, where the water source had clean water, like faucets or toilet bowls with clean water. Category 2 is a little more dangerous, having contaminants in it, such as dirty water from appliance overflow. Category 3, involves water from sources like sewage and flood water from natural disasters, and is so contaminated that can cause serious illness or death if ingested.
Since the three categories vary so widely, action needs to be taken quickly to reduce damage to your property and to reduce the potential health risks involved with standing water.
Being in the desert doesn’t change the risks, either. It only increases them, as heat causes leftover water to become a breeding ground for many more dangerous contaminants, such as microbes that lead to mold, or bacteria. Both of these come with both short and long term health effects.
Drying strategies have to be employed right away to reduce the damage to the building. These strategies depend on how high the water has reached, the materials involved, such as plush materials (couches or carpet) or more porous materials (hardwood flooring), and the rate that the water evaporates at. Typically, it involves such techniques as drying through air movement or a dehumidifying process. For more information, ServiceMaster Restore of Prescott has an easy to follow water damage restoration process, so you can know what to expect.
As the hotter portions of the year are getting closer and closer, any flooding or water damage you might be suffering from needs to be remedied right away--contacting a cleaning professional is imperative! The longer the water sits on or in any materials, the greater the risks of contamination and eventual sickness becomes.
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