Water Restoration in Anchorage, Alaska — The Ultimate Guide
Homeowners definitely have a love/hate relationship with water. Water is stuff that makes life possible. It’s a wonderful thing … when it stays firmly within its designated containers, filling our drinking glasses or flushing away our waste.
But when it starts pouring into places where it doesn’t belong — i.e. inside our homes and commercial buildings — it can be the worst thing in the world. Within hours or even minutes, it can destroy our belongings and do thousands of dollars’ worth of damage — even tens of thousands of dollars’ worth.
Mitigating and reversing that damage is the job of a water restoration specialist. They’re who you want to call — as soon as possible — if your property suffers water damage.
What Is Water Restoration?
Water restoration is the process of returning an interior space to the condition it was in (or better) before an incursion of water. Water restoration happens after any remaining water has been removed from the affected area.
This could include, but is not limited to:
Drying out all surfaces.
Removing and replacing any material that is saturated beyond the point of saving.
Making repairs
Why Is Water Restoration Important?
Water incursion is more harmful to property than most people think. It’s not just a matter of getting the water out and the surfaces dry again. Water can seep down into the porous surfaces of the structure and cause significant damage.
There are two main hazards to worry about:
Mold. Mold is a fungus that thrives on damp surfaces. Some people think Alaska is too cold for mold, but don’t be fooled — we keep our houses and commercial buildings warm and comfortable, just like anywhere in the world, so mold definitely has the heat it needs to thrive.
Mold isn’t just ugly — it’s also bad for you. Large colonies of mold can release huge quantities of spores into the air, triggering allergic reactions and even respiratory disease. It’s also nearly impossible to kill completely once it germinates out of control. You basically have to cut away the affected pieces of the structure and replace them.
Bacteria. Various forms of bacteria thrive in wet environments too. If you don’t restore the affected area quickly, colonies can spring up and go on to expose occupants of the structure to various bacterial infections.
Rust. Left damp, metal members of the structure can begin to rust. Rust is the oxidation of the metal — oxygen atoms from the water molecules cause a chemical reaction that literally eats the metal member away, undermining its structure and causing ugly red blotches or scars.
Rot. Wood structural elements that have become saturated to the point of being 20% water will experience bacterial and fungal growth right down to the bones. If you gouge at it with a screwdriver, it will start to clump and crumble away. This wood rot makes your building inherently less structurally sound.
Superficial Damage. Superficial damage to the property can still be ugly and costly. It includes peeling of wallpaper, cracking or degrading of furniture, and damage to the flooring and sub-flooring.
How To Mitigate Damage Before It Happens
It’s good to have a plan in the event of water damage; it’s even better to know how to prevent it in the first place. Here are some steps you can take around your home or property to mitigate water damage before it happens …
Keep your interior heated to at least 65 degrees. Even if you aren’t home, make sure the thermostat is set to at least 65. This will help keep the pipes in the walls from freezing and bursting.
Check your hoses, appliances, and faucets annually. Check everything that transports water within your home for leaks, including your faucets, water-using appliances (dishwasher, laundry, water heater, etc.) and the hoses that connect them to the water supply.
Check your showers and tubs annually. The connection points of your tub or shower to the house are usually sealed by caulk. If the caulk becomes cracked, it can become an easy point of ingress for water. Water damage is expensive to repair; caulk is cheap. Replace it as needed.
Keep gutters and downspouts clear. Clearing your gutters and downspouts of debris will prevent water from pooling around your foundation and potentially entering your home in the event of a storm.
Watch out for ice dams. These are shelves of ice that form around the edges of roofs in colder climate zones like Alaska. Instead of running off the roof, water can pool behind the dams and seep into the attic. Make sure to break up ice dams where you find them. Ice dams often form because heat seeps into your attic and melts the snow on the adjacent roof, leaving the edges because they aren’t exposed to the attic. This can be prevented by sealing your attic so heat can’t escape. (This will save you money on your energy bills too.)
Keep your fireplace flue closed when you’re not using it.
Keep trees and vegetation in check. Big plants and tree limbs can damage your roof or walls and provide an access point for storm water if you let them get too close.
Get to know your water main shutoff valve. If the leak comes from your plumbing, you may be able to mitigate the damage by shutting off the water quickly. The main water shutoff valve is usually located near the water meter and main water supply, often outside in a sunken box. Older properties will have a gate valve with a round twist handle that you must twist several times to close. Newer properties will have a ball valve, a handle-like lever that you only need to twist 90 degrees to close.
Consider installing water alarms. Water alarms are like smoke or carbon monoxide alarms — they sit at points of potential leaks or flooding, and if they detect excess water they sound the alarm, enabling you to act quickly.
Consider installing a water flow monitor. These “smart” systems monitor the flow of water into and out of the property. If it detects irregularities, it may trigger an automatic shutoff of the system.
Consider flood insurance. Not all water damage may be covered by homeowner’s insurance or commercial property insurance. Some water damage may only be covered by separate flood insurance. Your mortgage lender may require flood insurance if the property is located in a high-risk flood zone, but if you’re worried about a big restoration bill, it’s worth considering even if your lender doesn’t require it.
What Should I Do In The Case Of Water Damage?
If you discover water damage, time is of the essence. Serious damage can start to set in within minutes. Here are some immediate steps to take:
Contact a Water Restoration Contractor — Immediately. Restoration is easiest — and least costly — when it begins within 24-48 hours of the incident. This isn’t something you want to sleep on. The sooner you get on the restoration specialist’s calendar, the better.
Shut off the power. We all know what happens when electricity meets water. Excess water can cause shorts and even electrocution. Play it safe and shut off the electricity just in case.
Put on rubber boots. If you want to try and wade into a flooded room, put on rubber boots. This will protect you from electric shocks and infection from bacteria in the water.
Try and find the source of the leak. If it’s safe, you can try to divert the water. If the water is coming from an interior pipe, shut off the main water supply to stop water from entering your house.
If possible, try to salvage some of your belongings. If it’s safe, you can try to move some of your lightweight furniture and other personal belongings to safety. If you suspect the water might be “gray water” — used, non-sewage domestic water that may contain germs — consider avoiding contact with it. Definitely avoid contact with sewage.
Notify your insurance adjustor. Water damage is costly. You may want to file an insurance claim. The sooner you start that process, the better. Depending on the source of the damage, the relevant policy may be your homeowner’s dwelling coverage or your flood insurance (if you have it).
What Happens After The Restoration Company Arrives?
Ideally, your water damage restoration specialist should arrive within 24-48 hours of the incident to salvage as much material as possible and prevent contamination from setting in. Here’s what the water restoration contractor will do upon arrival:
Talk to Your Insurer. While you need to loop your insurer in on the process, your water restoration specialist will actually most likely be the point person between you and your insurer. They are in a better position than you to give informed opinions about the nature of the damage and the cost to repair. Plus, this gives you one less thing to worry about.
Remove Any Excess Water. A restoration specialist is not necessarily the person who will remove the water that has flooded your home. That may be the job of an emergency flood mitigation contractor, or with the proper precautions you can do it yourself with a pump or wet-dry vacuum purchased or rented from home center.
But just because there isn’t standing water visible in the area doesn’t mean that there isn’t more water that needs to be removed. If the water restoration specialist deems the carpet to be salvageable, as much water as possible needs to be removed from the absorbent surface. Your restoration contractor may remove it with a portable water extractor.
Demolish Affected Materials and Remove the Debris. Unfortunately, water damage is extremely hard to undo. In most cases of significant water damage — significant enough to merit calling a restoration specialist — certain materials in the affected area will be unsalvageable. This might include drywall, carpet, carpet padding, even wood wall studs and other wood components.
The most effective way to remediate the damage is often not to dry out these components and salvage them, but to remove them completely. The next step for the restoration specialist will be to determine what is unsalvageable and then remove it. This may include cutting away drywall, pulling up carpet and padding or other flooring, and cutting away affected pieces of wood members. Once the pieces are removed, the water restoration contractor will haul away the debris.
Dry The Affected Area. Once all the unsalvageable materials have been cut away and removed, the area must be dried out completely. The key tools in this process are air movers and dehumidifiers.
Air movers are used to disperse air around an enclosed area. A dehumidifier is a kind of machine, like a portable air conditioner, which pulls in air and removes the moisture from it. Strategic placement of the machines will cause the air movers to blow air directly into the dehumidifier, quickly drying out as much air as possible. With good strategic placement, the affected area can be completely dry in a matter of days.
Antimicrobial Treatment. Remember, a major reason to execute water damage restoration quickly is because the damp affected area is a perfect breeding ground for mold, bacteria, and other microorganisms that pose a potential threat to human health and safety. In some circumstances, these germs can start growing in as little as a few hours.
Depending on what they find, your water restoration specialists may decide to apply an antimicrobial treatment — a spray-on chemical solution that kills or inhibits the growth of mold, bacteria, and other contaminants. However, if the restoration company sees no evidence of growth, they may opt to skip this treatment. It’s really only recommended if signs of contamination are present.
Remove Salvageable Belongings. Any personal property located within the affected area can suffer permanent damage when exposed to water. However, some of it may be salvageable. But the best place to salvage it may well be off-site. By keeping it in the affected area, you’re only keeping more moisture in an already moist environment, making it harder for the dehumidifiers to do their job.
While the dehumidifiers work, the restoration company may haul away various personal belongings for drying, restoration, and treatment at an off-site facility. You should get them back, as dry and in as good of condition as possible, within a few days.
Testing and Verification. After several days of dehumidification, the water restoration specialist will return to test the moisture levels of the affected area. The contractors will do this by using a moisture meter to test the water content of the air and the interior materials. If the area is dry, the restoration specialist will move onto the next step. If not, it may be necessary to let the blowers and dehumidifiers work a little longer.
Rebuild. Once the dryness of the affected area has been verified, it’s time to rebuild. Anything that got deemed unsalvageable and had to be cut away — it’s time to replace it. This will most likely include replacing any wood members that had been cutaway with lumber reinforcement. There will also probably be drywall that needs to be replaced, as well as carpet, padding, and other flooring materials.
The job is done when the affected area is restored to a condition as good — or better — than as it existed before the incident of water damage.
Most property owners dread the thought of water damage. It seems like the worst possible fate. But as long as we live on the blue planet, water incursions will be a fact of life. When you think about it, it’s amazing that humans have developed the technology to (for the most part) keep the water out … and repair the damage when it does manage to get in.
Your water restoration specialist is your partner, teammate, and MVP when it comes to re-establishing a dry, sanitary, comfortable interior.