The quicker you act after a water emergency, the better your chances of preventing further damage. A major water incident like a natural flood or sudden break in one or more of your Central Florida home’s pipes calls for an emergency response from a water damage restoration company that’s trained in extracting water and drying areas that have suffered water damage
The skilled technicians at Central Florida Restoration Solutions are known for their fast emergency response times. Every single day of the year, we offer 24-hour water damage restoration and remediation services featuring a non-invasive approach that minimizes property damage and returns your home to its pre-disaster condition.
How Fast Can Water Damage Ruin Your Home?
Water damage can ruin your home and its contents faster than you might think! In fact, within 24 hours of a flood or leak, your home can suffer damage to floors, walls, and electronic equipment. Mold growth and spread also start within the first 24 to 48 hours, leading to health and structural problems. That’s why it’s always best to quickly hire a professional water remediation company near you for consultation, restoration, and repair.
So, just how quickly does water damage progress? The truth is that even a seemingly harmless minor leak can become problematic in a short time. As water spreads, it’s rapidly absorbed into floors, walls, furnishings, and more. If you leave water damage unaddressed for too long, not only does the damage increase, but your insurance policy might not cover it. Waiting to call in the pros can also result in hefty costs you could have avoided if you had called right away.
- Within the first 24 hours: Water will soak into everything in its vicinity, including personal belongings like books and photographs, which can immediately bulge and warp beyond repair. It can soak through furnishings like upholstery and furniture, drywall, wooden doors, and window frames, which can swell. Plus, wallpaper and paint can peel or blister. Your home’s electrical system can also be harmed within the first 24 hours. If a roof leak caused the water damage, water can come through the ceilings and cause damage to wood beams and insulation. Most worryingly, though, mold can begin to develop within this timeframe.
- Within the first week: Water damage develops further, with mold spreading so rapidly your home becomes a biohazard. Damage to walls and wood surfaces intensifies, and metal surfaces can start corroding.
- After the first week: The time, cost, and effort involved in restoration work increases significantly. The spread of mold increases even more, and structural damage risks are greater.
These scenarios should convince any homeowner that the faster they all in a professional service after water damage, the better. That’s why we recommend minimizing the spread of mold and the risk of severe structural damage; water damage repair should start within the first 24 hours.
Keep in mind that the extent of damage to a water-damaged home is often more significant than it appears to the untrained eye. A reputable restoration company can quickly assess the level of water damage and determine how much work is required to make your home safely habitable again. Drying is a major part of the process and can take anywhere from a few days to a few weeks, depending on the extent of the damage. There are times, too, when drywall, flooring, and insulation might need to be removed. Ultimately, you are the only one who can determine which of your water-damaged belongings are salvageable.
The Drying and Disinfection Process
Drying and disinfecting your home after a significant water incident is a critical part of the remediation process because, if an area hasn’t been dried completely first, a successful restoration isn’t possible. Our experienced and skilled teams know that without proper drying, your Central Florida home is at risk of suffering major structural damage and mold growth. They also understand which equipment’s best for different types of jobs and work diligently to make sure every spot in your home is dried and ready for restoration.
Disinfecting water-damaged areas is also extremely important. Though some water damage disasters happen with clean water, others involve water that contains unsafe bacteria that pose health threats. But some water damage situations are caused by contaminated water that poses serious health risks. That’s when you need to disinfect the affected areas. Our teams know every step in the water remediation process, and when a job’s complete, you can rest easy knowing your property is clean, safe, and protected!
Is It Time to Call a Professional for Water Damage Restoration Services?
At CFRS, we understand the water damage remediation, restoration, and mitigation processes can be confusing for homeowners who’ve never lived through a water disaster. That’s why we work hard to make all three processes as stress-free as possible.
Our Water damage restoration services include:
- Immediate water extraction
- Source identification
- Thermal imaging
- Pipe bursts and leaks
- Roof leaks
- Sewage backup and toilet overflows
- Appliance leaks
- Flood damage cleanup
- Structural drying
- Disinfection
- Reconstruction
- And more
Our 4-step restoration plan ensures you’re never unsure about what the process entails:
- We inspect your home and explain what we need to do to return it to its original condition.
- We work with you to create a service schedule that’s convenient for you and your family.
- We carefully go over how each of our services works and what you can expect once they’re completed.
- We help you avoid any insurance hassles by working with your claims adjuster and insurance company.
Our team doesn’t just want to help you restore your property, we want to make the restoration process as stress-free as possible. And once your project’s complete, you’re able to enjoy your home once again.
Where Emergency Water Leaks Usually Occur
Burst and leaky pipes are far and away the #1 cause of water emergencies in the home. The problem is that since most of the piping is behind walls, beneath floors, or underground, you can’t tell when something’s wrong until you start to see physical signs of water damage.
Emergency water leaks most often occur for the following reasons.
- Incorrect pipe laying: This is the cause of many water disasters. If you believe your Central Florida home’s plumbing could have been laid incorrectly, we recommend having it assessed as soon as possible.
- High water pressure: Over 60 PSI is nice when taking a shower, but your pipes don’t find it quite so enjoyable. The greater the amount of force water applies inside your piping, the greater the risk of eventual leaks or breaks.
- Loose water connectors: Whether it’s due to shifting, movement, or high water pressure, pipe and hoses that feed water to appliances frequently become loose.
- Broken rubber seals: A sure sign of damaged seals is condensation or puddling on or around major appliances like washers, dishwashers, refrigerators, and freezers.
- Clogged lines: These don’t always seem to be a pressing emergency, but if they lead to a burst pipe or overflowing, the result can be significant flooding and structural damage. Clogs containing corrosive substances like household chemicals often speed up pipe damage.
- Corrosion: This is expected in certain plumbing systems as they age. As rust and other types of corrosion eat away at pipes, openings eventually form that allow water to escape. If you live in an older home with galvanized steel pipes, they typically begin to fail after 20 years or so. If the mineral content and pH in your home’s water are imbalanced, no matter how old the piping is, corrosion can develop more quickly.
- Underground root intrusion and movement: Many natural elements like tree roots and natural flooding can cause underground pipes to move. As the ground shifts, your pipes can twist, crack, bend, or separate and cause underground leaks. Signs of a pipe movement problem include problems with your water supply or slow draining.
- Damaged pipe joints: A pipe’s joints are essential to redirecting water throughout your home’s plumbing system. They’re extremely vulnerable, and over time, high water pressure and other factors can cause them to deteriorate. If you hear ticking or a loud banging noise, especially when you turn on the hot water, you may have pipe joint issues.
- Bathroom, kitchen, and laundry fixture cracks: Faucets and their connecting pipes frequently develop cracks, particularly when there’s been some sort of physical impact. Hidden cracks are common beneath the sink.
Finally, slab leaks below your home’s foundation can wreak incredible damage before you’re made aware of them. They’re never evident but continue to release water unabated. You might notice an increase in your water bill for months before you make the connection to a foundation leak. Look for these signs of a slab leak and, if you’re uncertain of what you find, contact a professional water damage restoration pro to make an assessment.
- Warm spots on the floors over the foundation or slab
- A continually cycling water heater
- Loud pipes, even when water isn’t being used
- Low water pressure
- Damp carpeting
- Mold and mildew infestation
- Pools of water collecting in your home
If your home has a slab leak, CFRS can come to the rescue 24 hours a day, seven days a week! Our skilled team has the advanced tools needed to quickly detect and identify hidden slab leaks so you can start the leak repair process and avoid further water damage.
When You Need 24/7 Water Damage Emergency Response At Your Central Florida Home
The bottom line is that you don’t want to waste a lot of time attempting to figure out yourself where the leak’s coming from during a water disaster. Your primary goal is to stop the leak or water intrusion before it causes more or more severe damage. The water damage and restoration experts at CFRS are trained to find hidden leaks quickly and take care of them before a pipe bursts and causes flooding that requires a total home renovation.
The top way to protect your home from an unexpected water damage emergency is to fix minor issues like worn toilet flappers, dripping faucets, and loose connectors. Making these small repairs can also you up to 10% on your water bills. There isn’t a lot you can do about larger, hidden leaks that, unfortunately, typically cause the most damage. The best you can do is remain vigilant about inspecting your home for signs of water leaks and damage. And when you do notice water signs where they didn’t previously exist, don’t hesitate before having them dealt with.
CFRS is Central Florida’s most trusted professional leak detection and water damage restoration company. Unlike many plumbing companies that are skilled at fixing immediate problems, we’re equipped to identify hidden water damage and start the restoration process before things get out of hand. In addition to emergency water damage services, we offer exceptional fire damage, mold damage, and smoke damage services. Rest assured, whatever water damage problem you’re dealing with, we’ve likely handled it in the past.
To learn more about our 24/7 emergency services, contact CFRS today. We’ll help keep your Central Florida home safe from the disastrous effects of water damage while showing you how to avoid costly future leaks, damage, and repairs.