How SERVPRO Uses Heat to Help Dry Water Damage in Santa Rosa

1/11/2019 (Permalink)

Call SERVPRO to dry your water damaged hardwood floors.

Why SERVPRO Uses Heat During Water Removal Jobs in Santa Rosa Beach

Many times when a home in Santa Rosa Beach sustains an incident involving water, different materials become soaked and retain that water. SERVPRO trains their employees so they can quickly get homes wholly dried out and protected from secondary water issues including microbial infestations and the development of unwanted odors.  

The many varied components of a home in Santa Rosa Beach is why SERVPRO uses heat with water removal equipment. Drywall, if our work begins soon enough after the event, can become dry again with little permanent damage. Other materials inside your home have different rates of absorption than drywall.  

Brick, for instance, is porous, and after absorbing water, tends to hold it inside its tiny openings more tightly than drywall. This tendency to hold onto moisture, plus the capillary action that drew the water deep inside the brick's interior, makes drying brick a longer process than many other things in the home.

Heated air directed at the bricks in your home can help get them dry faster than room temperature air that passes over the surface. The water held by most materials does not remain stagnant but continually moves toward drier sections. Seeking equilibrium like this happens in almost all materials. When warm, dry air can substitute for drier brick, the moisture passes more readily into the air, where we can then capture it and remove it with our desiccant machines.  

Removing water trapped below wooden floors requires a more gentle heat and constant supervision with both infrared thermal imaging devices and moisture reading equipment. Drying natural wood too quickly can result in warping, so we document the progress from start to finish. We also might use weights to help boards dry more correctly, as well, but we can often achieve the results we want without doing so. Many times, however, we need to remove a few boards to better reach the moisture underneath the rest of the floor with the dry air that we want to circulate and pull moisture out of the area.  

Water removal that happens quickly can help protect your home from developing problems with microbial infestations, staining of walls and ceilings, warped doors and windows, and unpleasant odors. However, if any of these situations do arise, SERVPRO has specialists who can help make any necessary repairs.  

SERVPRO of N. Okaloosa, Walton, Holmes & Washington Counties has water removal equipment that addresses issues involving standing water, moisture-laden materials, and secondary issues that arise from these situations. Call us at (850) 267-0746, so we can help get your home restored “Like it never even happened.”

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