Our last four articles explored four of the most common reasons a property owner might suffer water damage, but what is the MOST likely reason for water damage? Bad weather.
Here in Florida, the lightning capital of the world, bad weather can be a daily event. Ask a local and they’ll confirm that summer in Florida means rain, storms, and hurricane season. There is no way to escape extreme weather conditions. The days can be excessively hot and humid just for it to rain. Unfortunately, the rain does not last long and only serves to turn the day into an unfair and unwanted sauna, as the rain visibly evaporates from the ground and becomes suspended in the air. This constant wet expansion with hot compression wreaks havoc on roofing materials, and that’s a good day.
When hurricane season arrives … all bets are off. Hurricane season can severely test your property’s building codes with high winds, LOTS of rain, and a constant battery of debris afterward. While hurricanes CAN and DO generate tornadoes … water jets (tornadoes that occur over the ocean and generally dissipate when they reach land) are COMMON even in good weather. ANY “weather anomaly” can damage your asset and lead to water damage.
The associated damage does NOT need to be severe or extensive, in fact, a small gap in the roof is all the water intrusion necessary to begin devaluing your asset. Even a small puncture can allow the water to start destroying your attic and walls. Unfortunately, these small punctures may not be known until long after the devaluation and destruction of your asset has been in place for some time, which can be, arguably, much more devastating than immediate and extensive damage.
Prevention is the best way to save your asset from damage. The next best option is a quick response, as the sooner the water source is identified and resolved, the less damage will need to be restored. In the real world, however, the first two scenarios are rarely the norm. As such, the best way to return your property to the condition it was in before it suffered water damage (your “pre-loss condition”) is to use a professional and independent water damage restoration company.
Only a professional and independent water damage restoration company has the education, experience and equipment to completely restore your property to its pre-loss condition in a timely and customer-focused manner. Simply removing the water from the upper level is not sufficient to dry out the core of the framework and may not be sufficient to prevent future complications and microbial growth. You owe it to yourself to make sure your water damaged asset is handled by customer-focused water damage professionals.