Quick Guide What Happens to Building Materials After a Flood

10/11/2018 (Permalink)

Damaged wood floor in a Pottsville, PA home

When water fills your home in Pottsville, PA, it can be hard to know what's going to happen next. You may have a lot of questions, such as the following:

• How long will the restoration take?
• What furnishings are you going to have to replace?
• Will your home ever be the same again?
• Can you salvage your flooring even if there's swelling wood?

When you work with a residential restoration team, you can get easy answers to your toughest questions. These experts will even help you figure out what will happen to your building materials.

Fixtures

Swelling wood is rarely a good sign. If your cabinets were damaged in a flood, you will have to replace them if there is swollen wood. Other fixtures, such as toilets, sinks and faucets, will likely be okay to reuse after a flood. Most of the fixtures will have to be inspected to determine whether they should be thrown away or kept.

Flooring

Not all flooring can survive a supply line leak. Some real wood floors can be dried and saved even after they are damaged by water. Carpets, subfloor and carpet padding, however, may need to be replaced if the damage is too bad.

Walls

Even the walls and ceilings in your home may be affected by water. During a water pipe repair, drywall may have to be stripped away to get at the leaking plumbing. If your drywall is damaged during a pipe burst, there is a chance it can be dried out and salvaged. However, the insulation behind it will have to be replaced if it got wet. If you do have to replace drywall, you typically only have to replace the portions that got wet during the high waters.

Not all water restoration cases are the same. If you notice warping or swelling wood, you may have to replace a building material even if it can normally be saved.