What is the Best Way to Respond After A Bathtub Overflows, Flooding A Home?

10/27/2020 (Permalink)

Sometimes we use plastic sheeting to create drying chambers.

SERVPRO Uses Regular Water Removal Procedures in Cocoa Homes but Avails Unique Resources to Tackle Any Challenges that Arise 

Water intrusion poses many risks in a home, including mold development, rotting, swelling, and other material deterioration types in the structure. However, they do not always happen, mostly when removal occurs early enough. SERVPRO helps Cocoa property owners take only the necessary water removal actions, thus expediting the process and limiting the cost implications that the incident might have. 

What should the initial water removal process in Cocoa homes involve? 

• Extracting pooling water
• Removing moisture trapped behind tiles or wooden floorboards
• Extraction of moisture from carpets, upholstery, and other porous materials
• Restoring normal humidity levels

When the water spill in Cocoa originates from an overflowing bathtub, it is easier to stop the source by simply turning off the faucet or opening the drain if it is not clogged. Removal efforts can then shift to extracting the water that reached unwanted sections of your house before you could take remedial action. 

How often do bathtubs cause water damage? 

It is possible to get distracted by other tasks while running water into your bathtub, leading to overfilling. However, the system has some countermeasures to prevent spillover, leading to damage if installed correctly. For instance, the overflow pipe, which is connected to the wastewater outlet, should eliminate excess water once the water in the tub rises over a certain level if it is not clogged or punctured. Therefore, when you notify our SERVPRO team about the problem at your house, we try to establish whether there might be other issues in the system supplying water to the bathtub that might have caused the problem, including: 

• Leaky supply pipes
• Faulty faucet gaskets or retaining nuts
• Problems in the flexible pipe connectors or waste outlet trap 

How challenging is the water removal process? 

Once the water spills from the bathtub, it can flow to different areas in your house. The extent of such spreading is one of the main aspects of determining how challenging the water removal process in Cocoa might end up being. If the water flows freely for hours before you notice and stop the source, you have more wet areas to dry or large pools of water to extract to restore the house to its preloss state.

Our SERVPRO technicians help ease this by providing adequate resources to match the challenges. For instance, availing a high capacity extractor such as a truck-mounted water extractor provides over 185-inch water lift capacity, which is more efficient than the typical 140-inch lift that portable extractors provide. Such higher capacity applications can help clear pools faster or extract water from saturated carpets or other porous materials. 

Is removal easy if minimal water is spilled? 

Ideally, after a leak involving a small amount of water, it should be easy to complete removal, restoring the property to its preloss state. However, other issues not related to the water amount might complicate the process: 

• Water can ingress into cavities
• Semi porous materials might absorb the spilled water
• The water can heighten humidity levels in the house 

Water can easily find a way behind the decorative panel surrounding the bathtub or reach below the bathroom floor tiles. Regular extraction procedures cannot remove such water, yet it might cause severe mold development or a foul odor, among other severe problems. Our SERVPRO technicians use specialized equipment and removal procedures to address these challenges.   

Using thermal cameras, we can check the level of water penetration in cavities without tearing down materials. We also use thermos-hygrometers to determine humidity levels in different house sections because of the water leak. Depending on the findings, we choose the best tools to use for successful removal. For the water under the floor tiles, drying mats can help extract it conveniently without removing the tiles.   

In cases where porous materials such as wooden floorboards absorb the spilled water, there is a need to dry them to the standard 10% moisture content. Drying requires a sustained evaporation rate. The evaporation rate may also need to be regulated to avoid physical problems such as solid wood panels cracking. Setting up drying chambers is one way to achieve both goals. Our technicians use plastic sheets to create a sectioned off area in the targeted areas. We then use air movers to circulate more air in the chamber, quickening evaporation. Dehumidifiers help extract moisture from the air. 

SERVPRO of Central Brevard helps Merritt Island, Cape Canaveral, and Cocoa Beach homeowners regain control after water damage. Call us at (321) 638-4947 so that we can help you deal with any incident, "Like it never even happened."