Water damage from flooding or other sources can cause extensive destruction to homes and businesses. Not only is the flood a dramatic experience, but if not properly treated you can have lasting effects months later due to the growth of mold.
Most individuals don’t realize that mold can grow from something as tiny as a leak in plumbing, rain water from the roof, damp basements, or even events as seemingly small as overflowing bathtub or shower water.
As little as a gallon of water can produce lasting effects.
With so many sources of water damage and potential mold, most people will experience one or the other at some point. Mold growth happens rapidly, it can grow from mildew within about 24-48 hours after water damage initially occurs. It is imperative to start the water damage mediation process as soon as possible to save your home and your money.
Mold after water damage begins to form as mildew in colonies that appears on wood, ceiling tiles, pieces of cardboard, wallpaper fabric, carpeting, pieces of drywall, and even insulation. It can develop just about anywhere in your home where excess moisture is present for an extended period of time.
As you may already know, mold is a very dangerous substance that can result in significant human health problems, and certain people are at an even higher risk due to exposure.
The best action plan when your home or commercial building has experienced flooding is to determine how to prevent mold as a result of water damage from occurring in the first place.
Solve your water damage emergency the right way by following the steps outlined below or contact the Sunshine Restoration team immediately!
Steps to Prevent Mold Growth After Water Damage in Scottsdale, Arizona
If you have recently experienced water damage in your Scottsdale home or office, then before the mildew and mold process even begins you’ll need to act quickly to prevent mold from growing in the affected area. We recommend calling the Sunshine Restoration team quickly to prevent future mold growth.
Luckily, three simple steps exist for our professional technicians to stop mildew and mold growth in its tracks: dry, clean/disinfect, and remediate. We’ll walk through how the Sunshine Restoration team can help prevent further damage to your home. If you are experiencing water damage:
Turn the water off in your home, especially if your water damage is coming from a source within your home.
Be sure to turn off all Air Conditioning units and heating systems. You should keep your home at a moderate temperature if possible, but avoid use of the central HVAC system. Excess coolness or heat can complicate the drying process.
Turn off any fans in the house, whether they’re ceiling fans, box fans, or free standing ones. Using your fans to dry out water can often spread any mold spores throughout the house.
Pick up any personal items from the floor that would add to your loss.
Try to either move furniture out of the wet area or lift it up and put something under the legs such as a block of wood that will keep it out of the water.
Leave everything the way it is and don’t start throwing away ruined possessions until after someone has looked at the damage. Often professional cleaners can save possessions that otherwise might be unsalvageable. If possible, take photos to document all your damage. This will be helpful when you file an insurance claim.
Next, use our professional structural drying system.
This is the process of removing any standing water or applying drying to structural materials affected by flood damage. Our advanced extraction tools can extract excess water out of your carpet and pad in one step. Once that is done, advanced dehumidifiers and air movers are used to create a drying environment.
Carpets and pads can usually be dried in less than two days; walls will be dried in three most of the time. Many times, the only non-salvageable damage from water is to baseboards, toe kicks on cabinets, and maybe some vent holes in some hard to reach areas.
If needed, we are also able to use specialty heat drying with the use of our TES drying system. If we can get to a water loss within a couple of days, we can minimize the damage to your home.
Structural drying, when done properly, will reduce the amount of time you are displaced from your home. If you wait too long and materials become damaged and need to be removed, reconstruction will oftentimes take many weeks to get done.
Call in the Mold Professionals
Flooding and mold are no joke. Because of this, sometimes you just need a little extra help. When this happens, call the professionals at Sunshine Restoration. With decades of experience in Scottsdale, Arizona and surrounding areas you can ensure that your home is in the right hands.
We know that flooding and other major water damage situations often not only come as a surprise, but they can also destroy valuable property in the process. Just let us know what you’re dealing with, and we will ensure that you get back up and running in no time.
Get in touch with us at Sunshine Restoration today. We look forward to helping you.
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