If you’ve experienced a flood in your home, there are a few steps you need to follow. After finding the source of the water and successfully stopping the leak or flood, the next step is to dry out your home and any items that were affected by the flood water. How long does it take to dry out your basement after a flood? It depends on the severity of the flood.
There are many reasons why this job should be left to the professionals. They have the proper tools, techniques, and know-how to get the job done right and can salvage as much of your floors, walls, drywall, and personal belongings as possible. Here’s what you need to know about the process of drying out concrete floors after a leak and how professional can dry out your walls after they are water damaged.
Areas That Need to Be Dried
Carpet and Flooring
Water damage can have a serious impact on your belongings and property. If water has affected a carpeted area, it may be salvageable. Here’s how to dry out your floor after a leak: first, you will need to figure out if the substrate under the carpet has been affected. Depending on the type of substrate, it could take a longer time to completely remove the moisture. For the best results, the carpet and padding must have been soaked for less than 48 hours. If the carpet, padding, and flooring has been wet for over 48 hours, it should be removed and replaced. In any situation, if the water came from an unsanitary source, everything must be replaced to ensure your home is safe from bacteria.
Walls
Another area to consider when drying your home after a flood is the drywall. Effectively drying these areas is extremely important. How can you dry out your walls after water damage? The drying and dehumidification processes can take anywhere from a few hours to days, depending on the severity of the damage. All surfaces that have been affected by water damage must be cleaned, disinfected, and deodourized to properly eliminate any risk of mould, bacterial infection, fungus, and other viruses. Professionals will use various techniques to try to save as much drywall as possible; however, drywall may need to be replaced if it has been soaked for over 72 hours or if the flood water was dirty.
Documents
If items such as your books, photos, certificates, and other important documents have been damaged after a flood, the sooner you seek remediation, the better. Professional flood damage restoration services provide techniques like freeze-drying, document drying and restoration, and more to help salvage important documents.
Ways to Dry Your Home
Water Extraction
The first step to drying your home is to have all traces of water removed from the area. Special water vacuums are used to dry up the water and eliminate any vapour left behind. These devices can also work on furniture that has been affected such as cushions and carpets.
Air Drying
Air drying is a useful method for removing flood water if a small area has been affected and the remedy began quickly. Large fans are placed around the area to increase airflow and circulate the humidity out of the area. However, it will not be very effective if the water has been soaking into the material for several days. If the area has a high level of humidity, it will also impact the effectiveness of the process.
Dehumidifiers
Dehumidifiers are very effective for drying out an area. After the water has been extracted, dehumidifiers will be placed on the area to remove moisture from the air and the surrounding materials. How long should you run a dehumidifier after a flood? Until the moisture tests have shown that the levels are safe and dry enough, the drying process should continue.
Let Our Professionals Dry Your Home
When you hire the professionals to dry out your home, you get more than an experienced team. You also gain access to their quick and effective drying process and technology. They are able to thoroughly inspect your home for excess moisture and water and will find solutions to dry out each type of material. As the special drying equipment is put in place to dry out your home, they will regularly inspect to ensure the process is working. They will use moisture measuring equipment to get a scientific and accurate assessment of the moisture levels in each part of your home that has been affected by the flood. After all of this, they will provide a detailed report to give you peace of mind before you move back into your home.
If you need quick water damage restoration, Flood Services Canada can help you. Our professionals offer a variety of services and solutions to problems related to water damage. We deploy our quick-response teams to cities across the Greater Toronto Area to help homeowners save their home in emergency situations.
Our services include 24/7 sewage, water damage, and flood cleanup services and our technicians will use the best techniques and equipment to ensure your home is clean, safe, and dry as soon as possible. Contact us at (416) 302-2107 to learn more about structural drying services, or use our emergency hotline at (416) 999-3930 to get our rapid-response teams deployed to your location.
