Surprising Culprits of Water Damage

6/10/2016 (Permalink)

When you’ve got water damage in your home, often enough the source of the damage is right before your eyes. For example, with leaky toilets, you’ve generally got water on the floor around the toilet. With leaky roofs, you’ve often got a stain on the ceiling at the site of the leak. However, sometimes the source of the water damage in your home might not immediately reveal itself. In such cases, you might have to scour the entire home in search of the problem, or else the water damage could continue to get worse. Of course, to do that, you need to know where to look for the damage. Don’t worry! We at SERVPRO of Yorba Linda/Brea are here to help you with that. But first, let’s take a minute to refresh our memory on the signs of water leaks in your home.

Water Leaks: Signs and Symptoms

We could list dozens of signs and symptoms of water damage, but for the sake of brevity, we’ll list of the most common ones. Take a look!

• Wet spots, puddles, and standing water of any kind found anywhere in your home. Unless you and your family like to throw water around the house just for fun, this one’s a pretty good symptom of water damage. Look into any unexplained wetness in your home – that is most likely a sign of water damage. 

• Mold, mildew, and any other fungi-related items. It’s green. Sometimes it’s brown. It’s slimy and gross, and if you’ve got allergies, this stuff can really wreak havoc. If you find mold in your home, it’s a reliable sign that you’ve got a water leak somewhere. 

• Strange or unpleasant odors in the house. Yes, we know having teenage sons is probably the most common cause of foul odors around the house. But mold can get pretty stinky, too. So, follow those odors and make sure that the smell is coming from your boys and not mold.

• Unusually high water bills. A high water bill is often a sign of some kind of leakage around the house. Not only does this waste a precious resource and cost you extra money on your water bill, but it also damages your home. Be sure to look at each month’s water bill to verify that your bill is not unusually high. 

The Hidden Culprits

Now that we’ve brushed you up on the signs and symptoms of water leaks in your home, let’s take a look at the most common hidden offenders that might be to blame for any unexplained water or water damage in your home:

• Dishwasher mishaps: Yes, even major appliances sometimes leak. When your dishwasher’s door doesn’t latch properly, the gasket is broken or the water connection is loose, you’re looking at water on the floor—sometimes a lot of it. Find an online tutorial and maintenance it yourself. Or, if you’re not comfortable with that, call in a professional to take look.

• Refrigerator leaks: Most modern refrigerators have water spigots and ice makers. This means that there is a water line hooked up somewhere in the back of your refrigerator. If that line gets loose or detached somehow, you will have a mess on your hands. Your refrigerator also creates a lot of condensation due to the fluctuations in temperature as you open and close the door. This water drains at the bottom of the refrigerator, but if that drain is clogged, you can eventually have an overflow issue to take care of. To solve these problems, you can tighten/reattached/replace the water line in back and clean out the clogged drain. 

• Washing machine malfunctions: Like your refrigerator, your washing machine’s got a water line, so you can properly wash your clothing. Same details apply here as it does for your refrigerator. If you have a front-loading washing machine, you also have to look out for the rubberized seal running around the glass door. If it dries out and cracks or starts to pull away from the door, the watertight seal won’t be so watertight anymore. Call a professional to resolve the issue.

• Air conditioning problems: Similar to your refrigerator, your air conditioner creates a lot of condensation (and even ice!) due to the changes in temperature and other science-related issues. Sometimes, and for a variety of reasons, that condensation doesn’t drain properly. Our advice: call a professional and let them fix it for you.

• Rain gutters: What? Aren’t these supposed to protect your roof and home from water damage? Of course. However, when gutters are blocked by dirt, leaves, and sometimes ice, proper flow of water down the gutters and away from your home does not take place. This can lead to (sometimes serious) roof damage, and where there’s roof damage, there’s usually a leak. And where there’s a leak, there’s usually something in the house getting wet that you’d rather stay dry. The remedy: clear out those gutters on a regular basis - especially before the rainy season sets in.

• Improper ventilation: Condensation. We’ve already talked about how your fridge and your air conditioner create condensation, but did you know your attic can too? Without proper attic ventilation, things can get pretty humid up there, so much so that you can wind up with water drops and puddles. What goes up must come down, right? Those puddles in your attic will seep into whatever flooring you have up there, insulation, or the drywall ceilings off of the rooms below. Usually, improper ventilation results from having too many boxes stored up there, stopping the kind of airflow that will prevent condensation buildup. If that’s your attic, consider moving some boxes to the garage or invest in a small storage facility.

• Roof vents: Appliances in your home that get hot and need to release heat—i.e. stoves, fans, etc.—usually have vents that run from the appliance up to the roof. Such vents, of course, leave your home open to the elements, which is why they have what is called a boot cap covering them. When installed correctly, the boot cap allows the excess heat to escape while preventing rain and snow from getting in. When installed incorrectly, or when wear and tear over the years have compromised the boot cap’s seal on the roof, you’re looking at a roof leak. If you’re concerned this problem might be affecting your home, the best fix here is to call in a roofer to take a look.

• Skylight issues: While skylights can be a great addition to any home, letting in more natural light and offering you a view of the starts at night, they also can be a potential source of water damage in your home. When installed improperly, it is not uncommon for the seal around the skylight to leave tiny gaps that allow water to seep through. This can lead to roof damage, as well as damage to whatever furniture or flooring finds itself below the skylight. To avoid this, hire only highly recommended contractors to install the skylight and have the skylight inspected during your annual roof inspection.

• Chimney: Like your skylight, a chimney is a wonderful thing to have. Who doesn’t like a nice fire on a cold winter night? However, at its most basic level, your chimney is a sizable hole in your home that, when not built or maintained properly, can result in allowing the elements in. This, of course, means rain and melted snow have access to your home. Chimney cap, waterproofing, and lining: these all need to be installed correctly to keep water out of your home. If you find water in or around your fireplace, your best bet is to call in a professional who specializes in chimney inspections and repairs.  

There you have it. Not all sources of water damage in your home immediately reveal themselves. Sometimes you’ve got to do some detective work to discover what exactly is going on. With the above list of surprising culprits of water damage at your side, we at SERVPRO of Yorba Linda/Brea hope you feel fully equipped to recognize all possible signs of water damage. But if you’re still stumped, the best thing to do is call in a professional - like SERVPRO of Yorba Linda/Brea - to give your home a thorough inspection. When it comes to water damage in your home, better safe than sorry is always the way to go.