Water Can't Hide from SERVPRO!

7/2/2019 (Permalink)

Water on the move

Water Can’t Hide from SERVPRO!

Have you ever witnessed the disappearing water trick, where a magician causes water poured into a cup to magically vanish, as if into thin air? (Spoiler alert: sodium polyacrylate, the stuff in disposable diapers, is first put in the bottom of the cup to soak up the water!)

But water will disappear even without any “magic” involved. It’s very adept at hiding and can be exceedingly hard to find. It sometimes hides so effectively that it can’t be detected unless special meters are used. Why is this important to know? Because even though water is essential for life, it’s also one the most destructive elements that can attack your home or business.

Water can be elusive because of the way that it moves. It spreads out like the letter "T" – moving out and downward from its source. Even if water looks to be setting still, it really isn’t. Gravity continues to pull it down into the surface of the material it’s resting on. And as it moves, it spreads and soaks into whatever porous (allowing liquid or air to pass through) materials it comes into contact with. But after spreading out and down, it also has another trick up its sleeve. It can also move up. It does this by wicking action. For example, water sitting at the base of drywall can wick up the wall at a rate of one inch per hour for the first 24 hours! Kind of like a sponge sitting on your counter wicks up the water it comes into contact with. 

Because of water’s meandering ways, it can easily hide inside insulation, behind walls and cabinets and in sub-floors. Even if a surface feels dry, there may still be moisture hiding underneath or inside of it. What this can mean for your home or business is that secondary damage like mold or warping can occur. It can even ruin expensive hardwood floors.

If you have, or even if you suspect you may have water damage, it’s highly important that a professional from SERVPRO of Palm Desert comes out and tests for moisture with specialized moisture meters and thermal imaging cameras. With this equipment, we’ll be able to locate the confines of the affected area and show you the scope of the damage. Then our techs will go to work removing and drying up the moisture to ensure that no further damage occurs, making it "Like it never even happened."

Why do we do this? Because water can’t hide from SERVPRO!