Approaches to Determine if Water Damage is New or Old

A natural issue that a lot of houses confront is some form of damage caused by water. As water damage repair professionals, Paul Davis understands the problems that water damage generates, especially when it isn’t in sight. Your home has pipes everywhere, including the inside of your walls and ceilings. If these pipes leak or have condensation on them, they can begin to wear out your ceiling or walls. One of the more hard aspects to this is verifying whether the damage caused by water is new or old.

For these areas that can’t be seen, it’s complicated to figure out how old the water damage is. Nevertheless, you could have a leaky pipe that was slightly dripping for a period of time but because it’s not in plain sight, you don’t have a timeline. There’s no way to indicate the precise time of the problem, but there are ways to estimate the age of the water damage.

Discover the Time Frame of Your Water Damage

The following steps can help you understand whether your water damage is new or old:

  • History of the House: When your residence has any spots caused from water damage, it’s essential to take note of them when determining whether your water damage is new or old. Also, you’ll want to be observant of any weather that could bring hidden water damage to the surface like heavy rain. Know your property, because pipes with a slow drip can take months to surface, and if you understand what’s new and what’s old, you’ll be able to pinpoint your problem faster.
  • History of the House: Take note 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 caused by water can take months to develop if the leak is small. An older house might have some water spots that were sustained previously. So it’s essential to take note of the spots you notice while determining whether this is old water damage or old water damage.
  • Touch the Spot: Go ahead and touch the spot, because this will reveal a lot about the age of the water damage. A new spot will feel wet but your ceiling or drywall will still feel strong, while an old spot will be soft and spongy since your material would have taken in a good amount of moisture.
  • Look for Rings: When you see a dark spot with no rings around it, this shows that the water damage is new. Old water damage will have rings around it, and like trees, the more rings determines the age. Discolored rings exhibits that the spot has been soaked, dried, soaked, dried, etc.
  • Examine the Materials: Materials such as thick paint and tiles can trap water and moisture, so when you have a water spot seeping through one of these, this can mean there’s been a buildup of water for a period of time. Knowing the materials in your home can help you focus on your water damage problems more effectively.
  • Mold Inspection: If you see that bacteria, or mold, is present, your water damage has lingered for about two to three days.
  • Rot: When your materials rot from water damage, this is usually the outcome of regular flooding or standing water. Decay usually won’t happen from the first situation of leakage.

Call Paul Davis – Your Expert Water Damage Repair Technicians

For all your water damage repair emergencies, call Paul Davis. If there’s a leak that you can’t find, it’s important to contact a professional. The professional team at Paul Davis has the know-how and response time you need to maintain your residence. For a local franchise near your area, give us a call at (517) 465-3096 and we’ll get a professional to come help you out.