Tag: Prevention

How to Avoid Water Damage in Your Home

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How to Avoid Water Damage in Your Home

Water damage is a serious threat to you and your home, and it doesn’t take much water to do serious damage. The fact is, an undetected small leak can cause more damage than a major leak that’s detected right away. Many plumbing leaks happen in areas where they might go unseen or unnoticed for weeks. Leaks located behind walls, under floors, underground, or those that happen while you’re away can be costly to the homeowner.

What’s more, you also have to think about rain and flood damage, because while homeowners insurance will cover most sudden accidents, it does not cover flood damage or leaks caused by unresolved maintenance issues. Fortunately for you, the professionals at RestoPros – the leading mold and water remediation company for the greater DFW Metroplex – are going to show you a few things so you know how to avoid water damage in your home.

  1. Invest in a Leak Detector.

Leak detectors are a great way to ensure that you know about a possible leak before it has time to do any damage. While these gadgets used to cost a lot, they’ve come down in price over the years. Some of the most popular brands are available for less than $50 and should have enough sensors to cover your water heater, dishwasher, refrigerator, and washing machine. The sensors work by detecting moisture. If they detect moisture where there shouldn’t be any, they send a notification to your phone, alerting you to the trouble.

  1. Check Your Gutters for Obstructions.

One of the more common ways water enters you home is through the roof. Sometimes that’s because you have damage to your roof or are missing shingles, perhaps due to a storm or high winds. The other way is much sneakier in its attack. Rather than pounding its way inside the home, it reverses directions and sneaks in through perfectly good shingles. Shingles are designed to be a watershed for water flowing down your roof, but they don’t work so well if that water reverses direction. When gutters and down spouts are obstructed and clogged with debris like leaves and vermin, they begin to act like a dam of sorts. As water backs up behind this dam, it enters home by travelling in the opposite direction the shingles were designed for. This can cause major damage to walls, ceilings, and electronics.

  1. Annual Maintenance Checks.

All pipes, lines, and machines that produce or carry water need to be inspected once a year for signs of wear or damage. Think of it as your home’s annual physical. Like putting off getting a check-up from your doctor, putting off your home’s inspection can lead to more problems and damage later. Nothing lasts forever, so do yourself and your home a huge favor this year and schedule an annual check-up with a qualified professional. These inspections can detect problems to come before those problems come for you.

 

While we hope these tips will help you avoid water damage in your home, they’re no substitute for an experienced professional. The water damage experts at RestoPros have a long-standing reputation for expertise, professionalism, and hard work. If you’re looking for a skilled and highly trained technician for mold testing, mold remediation, water damage restoration, or HVAC duct cleaning anywhere in the Dallas Metroplex, call us at (855) 58-RESTO (855-587-3786) to schedule an appointment today!

Protecting Against Flooding Dangers

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The rainy season in Texas can be difficult to predict.  With sudden flare-ups of flash flooding and jumps between clear skies and hailstorms, dealing with a storm is less about responding to the weather forecast and more about general preparation for storms.  Still, in the event of a flood, as most residents are going to face one at some point or other, knowing how to respond to protect yourself, your home, and your belongings is essential.

Dealing with a Flood

We’ll start with the most urgent, what to do when your home is already being flooded.  Regardless of whether your home is being flooded by a burst pipe or excessive rain, the response is roughly the same.  The main difference is, if the flooding is due to a pipe, turn off the main shutoff valve first.  Then:

  • Turn off the circuit breaker to the flooded areas
  • Do not enter the water without protective clothing if a black- or grey-water line has broken
  • Use a shop-vac to begin pumping water out of the room
  • Remove water-logged items for drying immediately
  • Dry carpets, walls, and furniture immediately, seek professional drying services if needed
  • Have your home inspected for mold after the flood has been cleaned up and all areas are dry
  • Repair any damages to pipes, walls, roofing, or foundation

Once a room has been flooded, it’s a race against time to save as much as possible.  Especially during the rainy season it’s always a good idea to store valuables and items that cannot be replaced on high shelves where they’re less likely to be affected by flooding.  This kind of preventative step is essential to dealing with any kind of storm damage or flooding.  What follows are some other prevention measures you can take to deal with flooding before it starts.

Know Where Your Shutoffs Are

Make sure you know how to access all the water shutoff valves in your home.  The most important of these is, of course, the main water shutoff valve.  For any major leak or burst pipe, the first thing you should do is shut off water to the problem area, so know where your shutoff valve is located.

You should also remember to turn this valve off when you go on vacation.  First, this helps reduce water consumption if there are any drips or leaks.  Second, it will prevent an uncontrolled flood of water if something does go wrong while you’re out.

Appliance Maintenance

So many appliances in our homes use water.  The ice machine in your fridge, your instant coffee maker, the washing machine, and the dishwasher are all appliances with direct connections to a water source.  Ignoring basic maintenance for these devices and their connections is a recipe for disaster.  Water storage units like your water heater should be drained and the sediment removed regularly, while water hose connections (such as the one on your washing machine) should be inspected for signs of aging, wear, or seal damage.

Storm Doors and Windows

Damaged frames, loose weather-stripping, and sticky doors are all signs that it’s time to fix your home.  Sticky doors are usually caused by wood that swells due to higher humidity (or a cracked foundation).  When it comes to water ingress, making sure that your windows and doors are sealed against the weather is essentially.  Check the edges of each, making sure that both the frame and the door or window are making a firm seal.  Examine any weather-stripping to make sure it’s not worn away or damaged, and replace as needed.

Protect your Foundation

Always protect your foundation.  The concrete slab beneath your home needs some water in the surrounding soil to keep it from cracking, but too much water will lead to seepage.  Concrete is mildly porous and when water pools next to your foundation it will, eventually, find a way in.  Make sure that gutters are draining away from your foundation, that the ground is always sloped away from the edge of your home, and that bushes and flowerbeds are far enough from the edge to prevent water from pooling.

You should also take care of cracks in your foundation immediately.  Water will cause more damage if it’s able to enter your foundation and will eventually seep into your home as well.  Repair cracks and have your foundation resealed or lined to prevent future damage.

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5 Mold Prevention Tips for your Bathroom

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5 Mold Prevention Tips for your BathroomOut of all the places in your home, the bathroom is exposed to more water than anywhere else – the kitchen is a very close second though.  Because most bathrooms are secluded, lack windows, and are typically more humid than the rest of the home they have a greater risk of mold infestation than anywhere else.  So what should you do to make sure that your bathroom is not a haven for mold and mildew?

1. Improve Ventilation

Cycling air is great for more than just keeping odors out.  Improved ventilation prevents high humidity by cycling out excess moisture and adding in fresh air.  Dry air that’s cycled into the room will help evaporate moisture off of surfaces, lowering the risk of mold.  You should also run your exhaust fan for 30-45 minutes after a shower to cycle out all of the humid air that remains.

2. Fix Leaks

We’ve covered leak repairs before.  With the amount of plumbing that exists in your bathroom, there’s a higher chance of leaks from fixtures and pipes here than anywhere else in the home.  The moment that you see water damage, pooling water, or a leaking fixture you should get it repaired immediately.  A leak is always going to lead to an added cost, even if it’s just an increased water bill.  Get leaks seen to immediately, every time.

3. Use Tile

Use smooth tile in your bathroom rather than a textured tile.  Textured tile adds surface area and leaves nooks, crannies, and seams within the tile that need to be cleaned regularly.  Tile, which is already fairly easy to clean, is more hygienic when it’s smooth because it’s less likely to collect moisture.  Smooth tile it also easy to clean since it is non-porous often requires on a quick pass from a cleaning sponge (with soap or detergent) to clean off the surface.  You should also try using larger tiles if at all possible.  Large tiles mean less grout which means fewer places for moisture to accumulate and mold to grow.

4. Seal All Grout

Enhanced tile grout is excellent because it’s already designed to be mold resistant.  But in the bathroom, that’s not enough to prevent mold from growing inside tile grout.  You need to take steps to seal out moisture so that it doesn’t feed mold spores locked inside the mildly porous surface of grout.  Sealants will also help to prevent discoloration by preventing dirt and grime from getting locked into the grout, making cleanup easier later.

Be sure to use a penetrating sealer for shower tiles and a membrane sealer for floor tiles.

5. Clean Regularly

The final step in any quality bathroom-mold defense plan is to clean your bathroom regularly.  Remove excess water from the shower using a squeegee or towel and leave the shower curtains open to allow air to circulate through easily.  Take the time to give your bathroom a deep clean once a week and use a mold cleaner to make sure you prevent anything from starting to grow in the first place. Once you get in the habit of cleaning your bathroom regularly, it will be much easier and you’ll be more likely to catch any problems before they become too big to handle.

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