Water Damage In Your Home? Here’s How To Clean It

Homes can suffer from water damage for a whole host of different reasons.  If water damage is severe – for example, if there has been a flood and there is lots of water damage to different areas of your property – you may need to call a water damage restoration service to help you out.  On the serious end of the scale, you may be suffering after a flood, causing lots of water damage to different areas of your property. We’re not going to look at recovering from this type of water damage, purely because it can be very severe. Many aspects of your property may be damaged, so the best solution is to get some professionals to help you deal with everything. In this event, consider ServiceMaster of Lake Shore.

No, this post will look at some of the typical water damage you might face in and around your home. This mainly includes water damage to your ceiling and walls, usually found in the bathroom and kitchen, but also in any other room in your house. In most cases, this sort of water damage can be cleaned. So, here are some tips to help you deal with this problem:

Find the source of the water damage

The first thing you want to do is find what’s causing your water damage. Sometimes, you are the cause! Well, more specifically, your bad habits are causing water damage. For example, if you don’t turn the fan on when you shower, there’s no way of removing the moisture from the air. Likewise, if you leave your surfaces wet after cleaning dishes or showering, it can create water damage. This might not seem like it will do much, but consider how often you do it. Over time, you can create some severe water damage that might need to be professionally removed and waterproofed by a Basement Waterproofing Kingston company, or a company wherever the damage is. In these instances, you need to change your bad habits to eradicate the source.

Essentially, you need to open the windows and use an extractor fan after showering, so any moisture can leave the room. You should also dry the walls and other surfaces when they’re wet. This should help you prevent any water damage from getting worse. 

Additionally, water damage can form from things that are out of your control. The obvious example is a leaky pipe in your home that makes water soak through the walls. There’s no point in cleaning the water damage if the problem still persists because it will just keep coming back.  If this is your issue, things like Mr Flow plumbing services can be useful to deal with the root of the problem. From here, you’re in a position to clean the water damage without worrying about it returning. 

Make sure the area is dry

Once the problem has been addressed, you can start the cleaning process. The first step is to make sure the whole area is dry. If you try to clean a damp part of your wall or ceiling, it will likely do more harm than good. Cleaning water-damaged surfaces is far more effective when they’re nice and dry. 

You can choose a range of tactics to dry the area – some people prefer to use cloths/towels, while others may use a hairdryer. Honestly, pick whichever option works best for you. If you have some old towels lying around, they can be used to blot the area dry. Likewise, if you have a hairdryer that can reach the damaged area, it does do a great job of drying the whole place out. 

One word of caution with hairdryers: make sure you use a low heat setting and don’t put it too close to the surface. If your hairdryer is too hot and close to the surface, it could make wallpaper catch on fire or burn. Then, you have to deal with fire damage instead of water damage!

Clean the afflicted area with some disinfectant

At this point, you’re ready to actually clean and get rid of the water damage stains. These tend to be brown and unsightly, and you can remove them with any type of surface cleaner. However, you should use a disinfectant if you want to be as thorough as possible. Household bleach is the most commonly used item, just make sure you wear gloves and a mask while using it. 

Spray or apply the bleach to the surface, then let it settle for a few minutes. Afterwards, you can use a sponge and some soapy water to gently rub away at the stains. They should come off and don’t be surprised if wallpaper peels away. This is a natural reaction to years of water damage, and you can either paint over it or find new wallpaper to replace it. 

The most important thing here is that you use a disinfectant. Why? Well, you need to ensure the area is completely free of any bacteria or fungi. When water damage occurs, mould isn’t far behind. In essence, the bleach kills any mould spores and stops it from forming. So, you don’t have to deal with cleaning the water damage and then seeing black spots of mould form a few weeks later.

Dry the area (again!)

That’s right, you’re back on drying duties! The same tactics apply here, but you really want to make sure you dry the area as quickly as possible. The absolute worst thing you can do is clean away water damage stains, but then leave the wall without drying it. You’re basically just going to make more stains come back! So, act quickly and ensure the surface is nice and dry, leaving you with a clean area.

Oh, one other thing to mention, which ties in with the last two points, you shouldn’t use lots of water when cleaning. Ideally, you should squeeze most of the moisture out of your sponge, so it’s damp. Using too much water will make it harder to dry your wall, which can cause more water damage to occur. 

There you have it: follow these tips to learn how to clean water damaged surfaces in your home. As mentioned in the introduction, this applies to water damaged caused by bad habits or minor mishaps in the home. If you’re suffering from flood damage, you really should call a professional Water Damage Restoration Company in as there will be lots of work to do.

 

 

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