How to Evaluate the Subfloor After a Water Damage Disaster in Albany and Americus Georiga.

3/2/2023 (Permalink)

Evaluate the Subfloor After a Water Damage Disaster in Albany and Americus Georgia.

Imagine coming home to water all over your kitchen floor! It has seeped from behind the fridge, spread across the kitchen and into the family room. Some of the water has begun to find its way into the carpet, the under pad, and the subfloor. The owners were only gone for a week and never turned off the main water valve. The plastic pipe connecting the water line to the fridge for cold water and ice was over ten years old. This pipe had developed a pinhole-sized leak, which over a week caused a great deal of water to spread across the floors of the home.

SERVPRO responds to water damage events in Albany and Americus of all kinds. A water leak from older plastic pipes is becoming quite common. These flexible quarter-inch pipes are aging and can spring a leak at any time. Many unsuspecting homeowners come home from work to find a puddle around their fridge. A great deal of water can leak all over your home over a week or more while the homeowner is on vacation.

Evaluate the Subfloor

One of the first steps a SERVPRO crew chief does is evaluate the condition of the floor and the extent of the water damage. He or she makes sure that it is safe. How far has the water spread? Has the carpet delaminated? Has the water penetrated and been absorbed by the subfloor?

Evaluate the subfloor when the carpet and under pad are soaked in water. Can the subfloor be dried sufficiently, or does it need to be replaced? The subfloor is made up of wood particles glued together and pressed into a four foot by eight-foot sheets in various thicknesses. This type of subfloor expands and loses strength when exposed to water over time. Mold may also develop.

Remove Water and Moisture

Water and moisture are removed using water extractors, air movers, and dehumidifiers. It helps to also turn on the homes AC. If the carpet has not delaminated, pull it away from the floor, and air movers blow air over the subfloor to draw moisture from the floor. Replace several sections if the floor has absorbed water and began to expand.

Call SERVPRO of Albany/Americus for you water damage needs.