Water damage can cause extensive and expensive damage to your home and belongings. Leaking pipes, sump pump backups, and natural disasters can quickly destroy your walls, furniture, and other belongings. It can also lead to mold-related health problems. The best defense against water damage is to prevent it entirely by identifying potential issues before they have a chance to turn into significant challenges. If water damage does become a problem, a certified structural drying company can minimize the damage and restore your home.
Five Common Causes of Water Damage
Learn more about some of the most common causes of water damage.
Damaged Pipes
Your home plumbing is the most common cause of leaks and can cause extensive damage when you don’t catch plumbing breakdowns soon enough. Plumbing leaks aren’t always apparent until they cause noticeable damage. At that point, you may have a costly repair on your hands. Aging pipes, water pressure, ground movement, corrosion, external pressure, and freezing temperatures can cause leaks in pipes.
Clogged Downspouts
If you don’t clean downspouts regularly, they can result in a severe buildup of leaves and debris to prevent proper drainage. Water can pool around your foundation, which can cause leaks, or back up at the gutters, resulting in damage to your roof. The freeze-and-thaw cycle can also cause ice dams that put intense pressure on your shingles, pushing moisture into cracks where it can leak into your attic.
Clogged Toilets
A very unpleasant cause of water damage is clogged toilets. Excessive flushing of solids can create clogs in the plumbing, eventually causing a backup that overflows the bowl. Water can soak under the flooring and cabinets, leak down the walls, and create an environment for mold growth.
Septic Tank and Sewage Backups
Sump pump or septic tank backups can cause significant flood damage to your home. A malfunctioning, frozen, or overloaded sump pump can flood your basement, causing thousands of dollars in damage. An overly full septic tank can be much worse. It can potentially back sewage up into your toilets, sinks, and showers.
Weather
Extreme weather is the one cause of water damage that you can’t prevent or control. Excessive rain or snow can work its way into your house through damaged siding or roofing. If you live in an area with extreme winters or rainy seasons, you can mitigate some weather damage by ensuring that roofing and siding are secure. Be sure to clear clogs and debris from gutters and downspouts.
Preventing Water Damage
While you can’t foresee every situation, you can prevent some common causes of water damage with regular home maintenance and careful monitoring for potential problems. Regularly inspecting pipes, roofing, downspouts, and gutters can keep water flowing into, out of, and away from your house the way it should, preventing clogs and leaks. Having your septic tank pumped every two to three years can prevent sewage from backing up into your home, causing water damage and an unpleasant mess.
Of course, you can’t prevent severe weather, but careful home maintenance goes a long way toward mitigating weather damage.
If you find water damage, a quick response can keep the problem from worsening. Contact our Steamatic of VA Peninsula professionals via our website or call 888-STEAMATIC.
