When Winter Water Damage Wreaks Havoc on Your Home

1/16/2018 (Permalink)

When your home has a flood, at SERVPRO of Brunswick, we understand how important it is to get the mess cleaned up quickly. Water damage to your home can cause structural weakness and mold or mildew to grow. Whether a pipe burst because of an overnight freeze, or you have a leak in your water heater, you don't want to wait for cleanup services.

During the winter months, your home is more susceptible to water damage caused by ice dams and frozen pipes that can burst. If ice builds up in your gutters, this ice can come in to your home. The ice will melt, causing water problems in your ceiling, walls and floors. If you notice ice dams forming on your gutters, or you have long icicles forming on the edge of your roof, it's time for some investigating.

When the heat in your home hits the snow or ice that is on your roof, it will melt slightly. A home that has a lot of ice buildup is one that is not properly insulated. This leads to all kinds of winter water damage. If your walls get wet but you don't know it, you can have a mold infestation quickly.

Water damage can happen right away, in the event of a flood, or it can occur over a period of time as in the case of a slow leak from ice dams. No matter what happens, once you discover that water has infiltrated your home, you need to get the water cleaned up.

While you may be able to clean up some of the mess on your own, it takes a professional to ensure that the water you can't see is cleaned up as well. You will be able to clean up puddles, but you aren't going to be able to find water that has seeped into carpets, floors and walls.

When you have water in your home, you have to find the source of the water and have the damage cleaned up by a professional company. If you clean up the mess yourself, you can leave behind small amounts of moisture that will cause mold to grow in your home. You'll have a bigger mess than you started with by trying to save a few dollars cleaning up the water on your own.