How to Indicate the Age of a Water Spot – Water Damage Repair

When you have clogged toilets, sinks or bathtubs that overflow, it’s obvious that you’re in need of water damage repair. Unfortunately, your house can experience water damage in ways that aren’t as clear. Because you have pipes running through your home, you can have a leaky pipe or an accumulation of condensation between your ceilings and walls. It’s an inconvenient situation because this isn’t visible- you won’t notice it until you there’s water damage, and then it’s hard to identify how long the issue has lingered.

It’s hard to establish how old the water damage is for these spaces that can’t be seen. After all, you could have a leaky pipe that was slightly dripping for awhile but because it’s been concealed, you don’t have a timeline. There’s no way to find out exactly how long the problem has persisted, but there are ways to estimate the age of the water damage.

Determine the Lifetime of the Damage Caused by Water

By following the step-by-step process listed below, you’ll be able to indicate the age of your water damage:

  • History of the House: An older house might already have some previous damage caused from water, so it’s critical to keep track of what’s there and to note if the damage alters over a period of time. Keeping track of the weather is a great idea as well, since, if you have a small leak, it can take some time for a water spot to surface. Taking note of your water damages can save you lots of time when diagnosing whether your water damage is new or old.
  • History of the House: Keep track of any spots on your ceiling or walls and take into account any strong weather you had in your area such as a heavy rain storm. Damages and spots derived from water can take months to surface if the leak is small. An older home might have some water spots and damages that were sustained previously. So it’s critical to keep track of the spots you notice while determining whether this is old water damage or old water damage.
  • Touch the Spot: You’ll be able to find out whether your water damage is new or old just by touching it. An older spot will be soft because the material has taken in a lot of water. A newer spot will be moist, however, the material will have a solid feel to it.
  • Look for Rings: Remember how rings on a tree determine the age of the tree? The same idea can be used towards water spots. An older water spot is going to have rings around it. They can also be shaded differently since the spot gets soaked then dries and gets soaked again then dries again, etc. A newer spot will be darker with zero rings around it.
  • Examine the Materials: Learn about the material in your home, since water can become trapped by tiles and thick paint. And if spots generated by water show up through these types of materials, this indicates the accumulation of water has been lingering for awhile.
  • Mold Inspection: Bacteria development normally means that your water damage has been present for about two to three days.
  • Decomposition: Deteriorated material indicates that your water damage is either a repeat offender or that it’s serious because there’s standing water. A first instance of water damage typically won’t lead to decay.

Call Paul Davis – Your Skillful Water Damage Repair Technicians

The degree of your water damage doesn’t matter, Paul Davis is here to assist. Our team of professional water damage restoration contractors can resolve the problem and have your home back in great condition. Fix the issue now before it gets worse and contact us at (770) 796-4848 for a local franchise near you.