Flood Water Damage In Your House

Floods can be devastating. Our homes are our castles, seeing them under siege by natural means out of our control is shocking and difficult to say the least. Once the deluge is over, flood water damage is a terrible thing to come home to. Even if you don't have to evacuate during the actual flood, it's strange knowing that your house was recently under attack by waves of water. It is impossible to know what to expect, what magnitude of repairs or cleanup will be necessary.

There are several ways your house could be subjected to water damage, some natural, some incidental. A few are:
* A water leak through the roof during a rainstorm. This will damage the upper levels of your house, and can seep downwards depending on how long and strong the storm was.

* Overflowing of a nearby water source, affecting the ground floor (and possibly basement) of your home.

* A nearby sewer backs up or breaks down, spreading waste water, causing basement flooding.

* In your basement, your washing machine overflows and goes unnoticed at first, covering the floor of the basement in an inch or more of water.

* The in ground swimming pool you installed last summer leaks and floods your nearby basement. An disadvantage not shared by above ground swimming pools, which have a much lower risk of flooding.

* A cold snap in your area causes temperature to drop precipitously and also causes your home's water pipes to burst, flooding your basement.

There are three water damage categories that insurance adjusters and water damage restoration service or professionals will use to assess your home's case. One would think they are determined by the volume of water that enters your house, but instead what matters is the type of water rather than the amount. They are:

* Category 1 - This category contains the least damaging water problems - "clean water" - such as burst incoming pipes or when your sink or bathtub overflows.

* Category 2 - Called "Grey Water" - this involves water that's been contaminated by biological, physical, or chemical sources that cause illness or discomfort when consumed or exposed to people. This includes washing machine or dishwasher overflows or breaks, all the way to sump pumps and toilet overflows that don't involve feces. If Category 2 standing water isn't removed or abated within 2-3 days it is often reclassified as Category 3 water.

* Category 3 - "Black Water" - these are the worst kind of water contaminations. Causing severe illness or discomfort, this category of water damage contains harmful fungi and bacteria and grossly unsanitary agents. Ground surface water, water from local rivers and streams, seawater, or water from sewage - all of these water sources fall into category 3. Lastly this includes all toilet back flow from beyond the toilet trap, no exceptions.

There are four main effects of water damage that will have to be taken care of as soon as possible once the flooding is over and it is safe to return home, assuming things got that bad. They are: unhealthy or bad air quality in the home, bacteria and micro-organism growth, mildew with its accompanying mildew smell, and mold growth. This can affect damp walls, the floor, wet carpets, furniture - nearly everything touched by the water that isn't designed to be submerged will be damaged by flood waters.