Preventatives for Water Damage

Imagine you have been gone on an amazing vacation for the past week when you come home to a house filled with clear water up to your ankles. This can be a devastating event that will quickly bring back the stress that you released on your fun filled vacation. Unfortunately, this is when most “disasters” seem to happen, while you are away from home.

Fortunately, there are precautions you can go through to keep this from happening to you or at least minimizing the damage that is done. While on a long vacation, you may want to consider turning off the water valve in your home while you are away. If you have plants that need extensive watering or anything else of major concern that needs water, then this may not be the best option. On the other hand, if you don’t need the water on, that may be a great way to go. While out of town, you also may want to consider having a friend or a house sitter stop by once or twice each day to check up on you house. Not only will they know if something significant has happened, such as Phoenix water damage, but they can also bring the paper in and/or turn the lights on and off to keep people from knowing that the home is vacant.

Routine home inspections are also a good idea in regards to the health and longevity of water lines and pipes. If your home is newer you may not have to do this very often, maybe once every couple of years. Contrary to newer homes, if you live in an older home, you may want to have the inspection done more regularly, maybe even once a year. A good rule of thumb is to discuss with the inspector the time-line you should follow after the first inspection is completed. This also includes a roof inspection. Older roofs should be checked up on by a roofer to make sure none of the tiles need to be replaced and to also verify the seals are all still intact and working properly. Speaking of seals, windows and doors can also be a culprit when it comes to water damage in Phoenix. A gradual leak during a storm can seep into the drywall of your home and cause mold to grow without your knowledge that there is even a problem.

Sometimes, no matter how much precaution we take, water damage simply can’t be avoided. Prepare yourself for the worst by knowing who to contact to replace bad or damaged flooring, what the best way to dry up water and moisture is and who to contact for mold problems. Hopefully, with the right preparations, you can make a very stressful ordeal into an easier managed problem and have it cleaned up quicker.