Does Water Damage Cause Odor?

4/6/2020 (Permalink)

SERVPRO Offers Equipment and Methodologies for Controlling Offensive Scents

Water damage invading and settling into your home is trouble all on its own, but when it brings smells along, it gets even worse. Downtown Knoxville is known for its high humidity, and that humidity can cause damage to the structure of your home if left unchecked. Along with that damage can come unpleasant smells, such as mustiness. One of the first indicators that there might be water damage in your home is the detection of an odor. Luckily, help is never far when this particular situation strikes.

Here at SERVPRO, our technicians are trained to do more than just dry your structure in Downtown Knoxville when water damage becomes a problem. We are also skilled in removing unpleasant odors that come hand-in-hand with water damage. Most often these scents have a source of one kind or another. However, if the smell is musty, it is often an indicator of mold. In fact, the high humidity that comes in the area is a perfect breeding ground for mold, as it brings constant moisture into your home. 
 
SERVPRO can inspect for mold and rid your home of the odor attached to it. We can also dry out all the areas that are a problem and get them back to a level of dryness that is acceptable. We often choose to implement the multiple methods approach to combat the odors, which means using more than one. One such method is employing thermal fogging to neutralize odor-causing compounds. Another option is to use air scrubbers with HEPA filtration to capture airborne particles and mold spores. It can be these airborne particles that cause the foul odors attached to water damage and using this technique can leave your home odor free. Afterward, we can completely dry out everything in your home and make you feel "Like it never even happened." 

Not Only Does Water Damage Cause Odor But Can Ruin Floors

Perhaps one of the most discouraging sights a Knoxville homeowner sees after excessive water enters living areas is damage to hardwood floors. Regardless of the source of the moisture, if enough is present, it eventually spreads across the floors of your home. Although properly installed and finished hardwood is resilient if the spill or leak is mopped up quickly, more extended exposure can swell and distort the organic fibers of the floor. We have strategies that prevent further damage and can ready the surface for restoration.

The source of water damage to your Knoxville hardwood floors can vary, from overflowing tubs and sinks, leaking aquariums, rain blown in an open window, plumbing fails in nearby walls or a host of other reasons. Vigilance on the part of the homeowner in cleaning up occasional spills and a call for professional help when a more significant water event occurs is critical. The faster our well-qualified water remediation crews respond, the more likely your hardwood floors recover successfully from water damage.

When we arrive, the crew chief assesses the situation, noting the ingress point of the water and the migration pattern of the moisture across the floor. SERVPRO uses sensitive moisture meters to map out the areas of damage and to establish a baseline as we determine the drying goals for the flooring. Hardwood typically lies over at least one type of subfloor which can contribute to unresolved and continuous water damage if we do not address its drying as well. 

SERVPRO technicians employ extraction equipment always available on our service vehicles to remove standing water. We use pumps for water deeper than two inches, and truck-mounted wanded extractors for residual, non-absorbed moisture. After the surface is clear of water, we move to advanced technologies such as drying mats to remove the moisture saturated inside the planks and in the subfloor. 

Drying mats permit multiple and customizable configurations best designed to remove the water fast and in the areas targeted by our metered readings. Hoses concentrate pressurized air over panels adhered with an airtight seal on the water damaged expanses. The water from all flooring layers suctions out as the system works. SERVPRO employees train extensively on how to operate the drying mats, adjusting and adapting the configuration as the drying progresses.

 
Water damage brings all kinds of problems with it, but no matter the issue, SERVPRO of Rocky Hill / Sequoyah Hills / South Knoxville knows how to fix it. Do not wait, call us at (865) 862-8907 and let us get your home back to normal as fast as possible. 

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