Drying Objectives and Tools for Riverhead Water Damage

1/2/2023 (Permalink)

Do you have water damage in your Riverhead home? Call SERVPRO for water clean-up.

Rapid Restoration and Drying After Water Damage

Damaging emergencies happen every day to homes throughout Suffolk County, and those involving water are the most frequent and diverse. Rapidly restoring and cleaning up after these adverse conditions means finding the appropriate balance of drying principles to evaporate moisture effectively and preserve building materials. These principles of efficient drying include: 

• Temperature – The warmth of the drying area impacts the restoration procedures in several ways. Warmer temperatures allow for a greater humidity capacity for the environment. Increasing the temperature also promotes a faster chemical reaction rate for cleaning and evaporation.
• Airflow – Using tools like air movers and similar items, we can promote an even and consistent airflow into the affected spaces and across moist materials. Air movers encourage evaporation. 
• Humidity – Regulating environmental humidity is critical in preventing the atmosphere from becoming oversaturated from increasing moisture content after evaporation. 

Addressing Pressing Damage 

Before much of the necessary drying can start for Riverhead water damage events, our professionals must begin with needed mitigation and emergency services. Part of our commitment that We're Faster To Any Size Disaster is the arrival of our experienced professionals to mitigate losses and protect the exposed structure as much as possible from continued harm. Some of the focus of these emergency services include:

• Extraction
• Controlled demolition
• Damaged contents

Regulating Airflow to Start Drying

We have several types of tools ideal for promoting consistent airflow in the designated areas of the property. Air movers come in several varieties, allowing a blast of dry air directed at materials affected by water damage. Units can be connected to run off minimal available electrical outlets, allowing us to increase the number of machines working on the evaporation of impacted structural elements and contents. 

Temperature Changes Increase Productivity

Another principle restoration professionals must manipulate to promote efficient production of drying tools and processes is the temperature. The easiest way to rapidly impact the temperature in a drying zone is with portable heating tools. Raising the temperature helps to complete the drying and restoration processes, such as faster evaporation, shorter needed contact times for cleaning, and increased humidity capacities in the environment. 

Humidity Management 

Managing the humidity in the household is another fundamental principle of effective water damage drying. With productive airflow output that promotes evaporation, SERVPRO professionals must place appropriate tools to complement the increase in humidity. Dehumidifiers grab moisture grains from the environment and reconvert them into water to be more conveniently removed. Our team typically uses one of two approaches:

• Desiccant Dehumidification – This process utilizes a chemical to absorb moisture in the air and exhaust it outside of the structure. This process is ideal for lower temperatures, as refrigerant units tend to be more productive in warmer conditions.  
• Low-Grain Refrigerant Dehumidification – Refrigerant dehumidifiers pull moisture across cold coils in the machine to produce condensation collected in the unit and disposed of when the collection trays are filled. 

Can SERVPRO Complete Repairs?

Because our roster also boasts a general contractor license, we can perform a range of build-back services and repairs that would otherwise require a subcontractor to complete. These can begin at the end of the water damage restoration phase, providing a smooth transition to the final steps of recovery after water emergencies. This can include repairing plumbing, reinstalling building materials, or post-damage remodeling.

Riverhead water damage is the most common callout of our restoration team, so we stay prepared at all times to manage these threats. We have a growing roster of experienced professionals, many with the WRT certification. No customer waits for mitigation and restoration with our SERVPRO of The North Fork team. Call now at (631) 591-3771.