When water washes over your walls, pools at your home’s foundation, or pour into your house there’s a huge risk of water damage. 24 hours is enough time for still water to cause extensive damage to your property. As such, homeowners are advised to resolve water damage immediately it is noticed.
Here are 15 reasons why you should never ignore water damage:
1.Water will ruin your building’s paint
Regardless of whether you’re using water-resistant paint or not, over time water will most definitely ruin your wall paint. Persistent moisture on the walls and ceiling will cause paint to develop bubbles and peel easily. Not even another paint job can resolve this kind of water damage. You’ll be forced to repair whatever is leaking water into the wall before painting the wall.
2. Expensive repair cost
Water damage restoration is expensive especially when the extent of the damage is severe. Depending on the cause and severity of the damage, it can cost an average of $1,200 and $5,000 to clean up water damage. It gets worse when you have to repair or replace some parts of the home such as the ceiling, floor, or roof.
3. Damage will ruin your building’s aesthetics
Remarkable interior and exterior paint enhance the beauty of your home. Water ruins wall paint subsequently discoloring your once beautiful home. If you won’t take care of the problem immediately, you could end up repainting the entire property after fixing the structural damage caused as well.
4. It causes adverse structural damage to your property
Water is a destructive force when it acts on anything including metal. Unfortunately, your walls easily absorb water due to their porous nature posing a risk of serious structural problems to the affected section.
5. It can only get worse
When left unattended, water damage will get worse. The dry section of the property is likely to absorb water from the damp section thus worsening the damage. This should caution you from ignoring even the slightest sign of water damage.
6. Mold proliferation
Moisture provides the perfect conditions for mold growth. Relative humidity of more than 65% and temperature range of 0-50° Celsius contribute to rapid mold growth. Mold eradication is another costly challenge that comes with water damage.
7. Health Hazards
A moist environment is a breeding ground for molds and other disease-causing bacteria. Molds have been associated with a series of respiratory diseases and allergies. Besides damaging your home, water can also get you bedridden.
8. Musty smell
High humidity can result in a pungent musty smell that makes it uncomfortable to stay in the house. The room will smell like rotten wood. A musty smell is an indication that you have a mold problem and poor ventilation.
9. Property damage
Water damage involves damage to your possessions inside the house. They could be your business inventory, furniture, electrical appliances, et al.
10. Damage to electrical wiring
Electrical connections are placed everywhere around the house to supply power to all the rooms. To avoid messing compromising the home’s beauty, they are often hidden inside the wall. This can be dangerous when you have live electrical cables interacting with water that seeped through the porous walls.
11. Increased water bill
As if water damage isn’t bad enough, it is estimated that even a small leak in the house can increase your utility bill by at least 10%.
12. You could run into problems with your insurance company
Your insurer will not be pleased when they find out you ignored the early signs of water damage. You could lose the claim.
13. Severe foundation damage
Water collecting at your home’s foundation can compromise the structural integrity of the entire foundation causing the house to collapse.
14. It could be a more adverse problem than you thought
A little puddle of water could be a sign of a much bigger underlying problem like a damaged roof or a ceiling that is almost collapsing, among other problems.
15. Increased repair cost
It is easier to mitigate water damage at an earlier stage than by waiting. Ignoring the first signs could force you to pay more for repairs and restorations in the long run.