We are hired by people to mitigate water damage in their home all the time. Like in many similar cases, there are commonly leaks in the kitchen supply line that damaged floors and spread throughout the house. Homeowners try on their own to clean up and dry the affected areas themselves but ultimately realize professional help is in order which is why we encourage you to contact Flood Damage Restoration of Colorado Springs for your 24 hour emergency water removal demands.
When we arrive on site and begin to assess the extent of the damage, we will notice evidence of previous water issues near the area are were working on, but are often told by the homeowners that these damages have nothing to do with the recent event and they do not want us to mitigate that area in order to minimize the scope of repairs and inconveniences. Home owners do not want a lot of flooring removed even though it was damaged by the water. We advise home owners that everything needs to be thoroughly dried or they will have more issues down the line and unfortunately, our advice is refused which limits our scope of work and does not allow us to work in the other water damaged areas.
While working in crawlspaces we notice several issues with engineered floor trusses. Sometimes they cut through one to run plumbing up to the water heater and weaken the joist directly under the water heater. We will notify the home owner of the issue and suggest they have a structural engineer evaluate if the flooring system had been compromised by the damaged truss.
Fast forward and in the scenario we described, you will more than likely have a section of the flooring begin to sink. In these situations we will inspect under the home and find that the section of floor we are not allowed to remove and dry properly will have begun to rot. Additionally, the stress on the adjacent trusses will cause a second truss to split and that truss will begin to bow down.
Because we are not allowed to work on all of the homes water damaged areas during the first visit, the homeowner will now have to spend several thousand dollars on structural repairs in the crawlspace. The water heater and HVAC system will have to be removed so that the floor can be repaired creating a big inconvenience. Unfortunately, the structural damage from the trusses will come at the homeowners expense and there’s a good chance that during the process of fixing the trusses, the previously repaired floors will incur damage again.
When you have a water loss in your home or business, call us immediately! Service Team technicians are trained specifically to mitigate damage caused by water. In some cases, that means flooring or walls will have to be removed, but that is only done to ensure your health and safety. Our experts will do everything necessary to ensure the area is safe and that you won’t have recurring issues in the future. The key to successful water damage mitigation lies in listening to our advice and letting us do what needs to be done to ensure your safety.
Call Flood Damage Restoration of Colorado Springs today at 888-719-FLOOD at the first sign of any damage to your property so we can mitigate any losses to your home or business!