Chance of Unwelcome Showers: 5 Crucial Signs of Water Damage

7/17/2022 (Permalink)

SERVPRO team member pulls meter readings to assess water damage in Tallahassee home.

By the time you notice leaks and other water damage signs around the home, it may already be too late—but don't worry, proper repairs can help you recover!

Under normal circumstances, we associate water with life and health. However, as soon as that water penetrates your home in some way, it’s more like cancer. Its effect can be insidious, far-reaching, and destructive.

Water damage, like cancer, can be very hard to spot the initial symptoms and like some cancers, only recognized when it's too late and the damage is already done. You don’t have to be a victim of water damage in your home. 

In this article, you will read about 5 crucial signs that indicate you have water channeling to places it shouldn’t be and causing potential damage. The effect of missing these signs can be catastrophic for your home and detrimental to your health, so make sure you read on to learn more. 

 1. Blister Bubble Flake

That may sound like a recipe from Hogwarts but these are important indications that water is affecting another surface such as your paint. The reason the surface blisters like this or changes in some other way is that the adhesive layer of the paint that connects it to the underlying surface, such as the wall, has become compromised by water penetration.

The result is that the paint starts to lift off the underlying surface in some places, creating the bubbling or blistering effect.

2. Sticky Stuck

Anything that's designed to open and close should do so with relative ease. If, for example, your doors or windows start to get stuck, or they seem to stick together when opening or closing, then this is an indication the frame has changed shape.

Changes in the frame like this could be caused by water getting into the frame and causing it to swell or warp in some way.

3. Stains and Discoloration

These are symptoms of water penetrating another surface like the ceiling or sometimes parts of the wall. When the color changes or gives the appearance of being stained don’t ignore it. This is the time to start investigating further to track down the source of the moisture causing the problem.

4. Signs of Mold

You may think this is the easiest of the signs to spot. Still, mold damage can appear gradually and at first be difficult to notice unless you're looking for it. So make it a habit to check for signs of mold even if you do that only a few times a year. 

5. Follow Your Nose

Sometimes our noses will pick up odors that indicate subtle water damage faster than any visual signs we may recognize. If you detect a musty smell don’t dismiss it as a sign of a building aging. 

If you notice your nose reacting in a sort of allergic way in some rooms of the house and not others then this too could be an early indication of water damage. 

Follow These Tips to Spot Water Damage

In this article, you have read about 5 crucial signs of water damage. Now that you know about them, you watch out for them. If you spot one of these signs don’t think it will sort itself out, it won’t. 

In fact, it will just get worse and wreak havoc on your property as time passes. If you don’t have the time personally to do something about it you can hire our professional team to come in and assess, or take care of your water remediation.