How to Remediate Water Damage in Your Bristol Home

3/10/2019 (Permalink)

Don't stress about water damage in your home, call SERVPRO for help today.

SERVPRO Drying Out Water Damaged Bristol Homes

After an inside plumbing disaster, Bristol homeowners need more than simply using a water-vac to pull water off the floor, open the doors and windows, and rent a rug shampooer from the local big box store. To completely restore a home takes a professional restoration service.
 
Drying out a home with water damage in Bristol requires attention to four key factors that affect humidity. SERVPRO restoration specialists train to analyze each one, so they know which drying methods and equipment they need to use in each home. It all comes down to HEAT.
 
Humidity levels are determined by the level of water vapor in the air in a home compared its capacity. A level of 60 percent or higher indicates the air is saturated. That greatly slows evaporation and increases drying time. Specialists use dehumidifiers to reduce the humidity level in each affected room. Properly working dehumidifiers can lower the level up to 20 percent every 24 hours.
 
Evaporation is the natural process of water converting to vapor. With large amounts of water, it is very slow. Our SERVPRO specialists use pumps and smaller extraction devices to remove the bulk of the standing water. Once they get the amount to less than two inches in depth, the rate evaporation rapidly increases. They can also augment the rate of evaporation with dehumidifiers and using exhaust fans to increase movement, forcing saturated air outside the home.
 
Air Movement can also be increased using air movers to force warm, dry air throughout affected rooms and across damp surfaces like walls, tables, and countertops to gently increase the rate of evaporation as well. The combination of air movers and fans to increase air movement is also very useful to dry out clothing in a gentle manner which does not damage the fabric.
 
Temperature is also an important factor, especially in cold weather. Since the preferred range to dry home and property is 70 to 90 degrees, we try to engage the HVAC system if it is operational carefully. If not, then specialists use space heaters to raise the internal temperature. They carefully monitor the temperature in every affected room to keep it under 80 degrees on the first day; however, since a higher temperature can increase the humidity.
 
At SERVPRO of Kingsport / Bristol, we use every tool and method available to return every residence to a dry, safe condition for families to live in once again. If you have had a recent water issue in your home, call us at (423) 245-5552 to schedule a visit. We are here for you.

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