Can It Be Dried

Water Damaged Property: Tear It Out or Dry It

One of the most frequent questions we get when responding to a property with water damage is, “Can this be dried?”

This is a valid question. Standard operating procedure for water damaged material used to be, “tear it out and replace it”. This could be for several reasons:

• Contractors just didn’t have the skills or knowledge to properly dry a structure
• Contractors knew how to dry things but we’re motivated to tear things out so they could put it back together again, thus significantly increasing their invoice.

 

Drying science and the emergence of contractors that specialize in water damage and structural drying has greatly reduced the scenarios above. That said, not everything can or should be dried.

For the purpose of this article, we will only examine whether or not a material CAN be dried; we’re assuming a clean water source. An unclean water source changes the remediation protocol significantly, we speak about source and categories of water in other posts.

Can Water Damaged Walls Be Dried? 

Yes, absolutely!

Following a water damage event, walls are always a concern for us as water restoration professionals. Wet walls usually come about in two ways:

• Water can come from the top -> down. Think roof leaks or some type of flooding from the second story that flows between the wall cavity to the first story.
• Water on the floor – standing water can often wick up drywall even if it’s not making direct contact.

 

Gone are the days of automatically cutting out walls just because they got wet. Professional drying techniques that incorporate high capacity air movers (fans), dehumidifiers, heat, and cavity dryers will do the job.

Some exceptions would be:

• Walls with insulation – if water came from the top -> down on a wall with insulation it may be necessary to cut the wall in order pull out wet insulation. This also applies when standing water wicks up the walls high enough to reach the insulation.
• Ceilings – while ceilings can be dried, it is often more cost effective to cut out the wet areas (depending on how much there is). With ceilings being so high off of the ground it is hard to get direct airflow on them which can significantly increase dry time. A good restoration professional will always assess each situation and make the proper recommendation.

Can Water Damaged Wood Floors Be Dried?

Without a doubt, the number one “Can it be dried” question we get revolves around wood floors. When evaluating whether or not an insured should make an insurance claim, it often hinges on the flooring; does it need to be replaced or can it be  dried and restored?

 When speaking about real wood floors, not laminate or engineered, the answer is…it depends. If you’re reading this while standing in a puddle of water on your hand-scraped wood floors, this is probably not the answer you were hoping for. Let’s unpack this a little further.

Drying methods for wood floors typically include use specialized equipment like “drying mats” to extract water through the pores in wood so it can be removed. Another method that can be used is called “tenting”, this where the floors are covered in plastic and heat is injected in hopes that the water trapped in/under the floors will be released to the surface.

Sounds good, right? Sometimes…

The problem can be vapor barriers between the wood floor and subfloor and/or the subfloor and slab. If the subfloor is wet and there is a vapor barrier on top of it, it’s nearly impossible to pull the water out of the subfloor and through the vapor barrier. A saturated subfloor can start to swell and cause the wood flooring to swell as well. In these instances, the wood flooring will likely need to be removed.

So, how do you know if you have a vapor barrier? It’s pretty safe to assume that you do but unless you saw the floors being installed, the only way to know for sure is to remove a few planks and look.

Can Tile Floors Be Dried?

Almost all homes have some amount of tile, usually in the kitchen and bathrooms. However, it’s becoming more common to see tile throughout the entire house.

 So, can tile floors be dried? The answer is almost always, no.

While tile flooring is about as close as you can get to being “water proof”, it’s far from perfect. If you don’t keep the grout sealed and clean up the water quickly after a water loss, water will find its way underneath the tile. At this point, it’s nearly impossible to dry the tile.

Water damaged tile can reveal itself multiple ways with cracking and “hollow spots”. However,restoration professionals still need to use special equipment to determine the moisture level of the tile and surfaces below. Insurance adjusters love to say that if tile isn’t physically damaged that it doesn’t need to be removed. There are many problems with this logic but, simply put, you might not have hollow spots or cracks initially but they usually show up in due time. Insurance companies are banking on it not happening until the statute of limitations on the claim has passed.

Can Carpet Be Dried?

Earlier we mentioned that the threshold for making an insurance claim for water damage depends on whether or no you have to replace flooring. If you were going to pay out of pocket for flooring, you would want it to be carpet and pad. Relatively speaking, it tends to be one of the cheapest types of flooring to replace.

 The good news? Carpet can be dried with relative ease!

The biggest factor in drying carpet is removing as much water as possible before you start the drying process. This will ease the burden on the drying equipment and make it more efficient.

There are a few scenarios where it might be advisable to go ahead and replace the carpet. If the carpet is really worn or the backing is starting to delaminate the professional recommendation is usually to replace it. It can still be dried but the physical condition will diminish even more.

Can Carpet Pad Be Dried?

Technically, yes. However, considering that pad is basically a big sponge that can hold many times its weight in water, it can take awhile to dry. If you have a “pet pad” it is even more difficult to dry. Another factor for drying vs removing pad is that not only can it absorb water but all kinds of dirt and bacteria as well. Considering that the cost of carpet pad is cheap, it is usually best to remove it.

Even though carpet can be dried it is important to act quickly. If the carpet stays wet for too long secondary damage can occur, even if the carpet was new and in good shape before the water damage occurred. 

Final Thoughts on Water Damage to Your Home

Whenever your home or business experiences water damage it is important to act quickly. We recommend calling a company like Rewind Restoration, that specializes in water damage restoration, to come out and evaluate the water damage in order to determine the best course of action.