Understanding water damage restoration

Water damage happens when water escapes from a source allowing it to damage materials, which might include the rotting or distortion of wood floor constructions, proliferation of mould growth or the blowing of plaster. Water loss can come from household appliances such as washing machines or large-scale floods like when a river bursts its banks.

First there’ll be a loss assessment and evaluation of affected materials handled by insurers, while the source of the damage and possible extent of area affected is explored by a water damage restoration technician. 

The drying process follows. And how quickly this happens takes into account things such as how suitable the equipment is, where it’s placed and the overall temperature and relative humidity (%RH) of the environment being managed. 

There is no formal requirement to be qualified as a water damage restoration technician, but I’m an IICRC (Institute of Inspection, Cleaning and Restoration Certification) trained water damage restoration technician, so I understand what’s needed to dry properly. The IICRC is a US-based certification not-for-profit organisation with the aim to establish and advance globally recognised standards and certifications for the inspection, cleaning, restoration and installation industries.

Apart from the obvious benefits of being formally qualified I find it’s also especially useful because I’ve learned to do the job from the customer’s perspective and can also come at it from a sales perspective too.

That means when there’s a loss of water I can see what a customer needs and offer the right solution.

The Categories and Classes of Water

People live with stuff that they probably shouldn’t live with. For example, they may have a leak in their bathroom and they may have mopped up the water and done what they thought was enough to fix the problem. But it could be six months or 12 months down the line that the problem visibly reoccurs.

You can have water go down into a concrete slab and then months later it’s tracked up into the wall, the plaster starts to blow and fall off, then it’s a bigger job. 

Sometimes when a restorer goes in they find all sorts of things – there’s mould growing in the cavity walls, there’s wood that’s been saturated for months and months because the problem wasn’t addressed properly in the first place. And so, it’s gone from being a relatively straightforward claim to a much more complex job. These jobs are always the challenging ones because then you’re dealing with category three grossly contaminated water, which requires a totally different drying approach. 

So, let’s look at the categories of how contaminated water can be:

• Category 1 ‘Clean’ Water - does not pose a substantial threat for example a sink overflow or appliance that malfunctions at the water supply.
• Category 2 ‘Grey’ Water - a source of water that has a significant degree of chemical, biological or physical contaminants and causes discomfort or sickness when consumed or even exposed to, for example toilet bowls with urine. 
• Category 3 ‘Black’ Water - contains unsanitary agents, harmful bacteria and fungi, causing severe discomfort or sickness. For example, sewage or rising water from rivers. 

These are the classes of water: 

• Class 1 - Slow rate of evaporation. This affects only a portion of a room and materials have a low permeance. Minimum moisture is absorbed.
• Class 2 - Fast rate of evaporation. Here water affects the entire room’s upholstery and has possibly been absorbed into the walls, but no more than two feet high.
• Class 3 - Fastest rate of evaporation. Here water generally comes from overhead, affecting the entire area including the walls, ceilings, insulation, carpet and cushions.
• Class 4 – Specialty drying. Where there are materials with a very low permeance, such as hardwood floors, concrete or plaster. Drying usually needs a very low specific humidity.

 Each category of water damage carries the risk of health hazards, and that means the right safety precautions need to be taken which could include anything from simply ensuring proper ventilation and using air-management units such as HEPA filters through to the appropriate use of personal protective equipment (PPE). It all depends on the level of contamination within the drying chamber.

Right Place, Wrong Machine

What I’ve seen a lot of over the years is people using the wrong equipment to try and dry a building out or it could be equipment placed in the wrong temperature environment.

A traditional refrigerant dehumidifier typically likes to operate at between 20 and 30 degrees, in a water damage restoration context. In 2015 around 2,000 homes were flooded when record-breaking rainfall caused local rivers in Carlisle to burst their banks. I saw people installing refrigerant dehumidifiers in temperatures of minus 5 degrees. People were turning them on, but nothing was happening because the dehumidifiers couldn’t operate in that low temperature. In these conditions you would expect to see the use of heat drying systems and desiccant dryers, or simply a combination of technologies to create the perfect drying environment. The jobs were drying for months and months on end – or not drying for months and months on end as was the case. 

So for me it’s all about identifying the conditions and identifying how you can dry things quickly and cost-effectively. That approach reduces strip out which ultimately gets dumped into landfill sites. A lot of people strip out instead of restoring, but as water damage restoration technicians our primary aim is to restore, not build. But these days many builders are diversifying their offer and joining the water damage industry. They can buy the equipment and complete the build so it’s a one-stop solution from an insurance company perspective. 

Are certain buildings at risk?

 You have buildings constructed on flood plains and there are areas of the country that are prone to flooding and yes, they are high risk areas, but any building can have a water loss. It could be someone who has finished some DIY in the home and connected things up poorly, or if there’s been a deep freeze and pipes have burst, while someone is on holiday. I’ve been to properties where water is running out of the front door because there was that much water loss over a long period of time. These become very complex jobs.

 In the UK I think we’re very poor in our response time to jobs too. When I’ve worked in the US market if they have a water loss people are there within hours removing water from the property and installing drying systems. They tend to get things dry in perhaps three, four or five days because they responded quickly and minimised the amount of water that absorbed into the fabric of the building. In the UK market I’ve seen jobs that have been left wet for six months before any work is started. They are extreme cases though.

 You can’t stop a water loss or flood once it’s happened but a good technician will understand how to reduce the damage and dry the area in the most efficient and quickest way for the circumstances. That’s what we aim for.

Also our job as restorers is to restore as much of the original building as we can, rather than rebuild. That way we send less to landfill and reduce the impact on the environment too. But it all starts with education and understanding the unique set of circumstances that surround each water loss or flood.

Let me know if I can help you with any of your water damage restoration questions or challenges. You can send me a message directly or leave a comment below.