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How to Dry Out Walls After Water Damage

How to Dry Out Walls After Water Damage

If you’ve recently been dealing with extensive water damage in your home, the walls are probably still wet from the incident. Water damage on walls is very difficult and time-consuming to treat. However, it’s possible to dry the affected areas before the damage gets worse: you just need to know the fastest tactics.

Our team at All Dry USA is here to help you dry damp walls today with our guide below!

How Does Water Saturate Walls?

Water can begin the process of saturating the walls for a variety of reasons. Sometimes, it can be as simple as a single leak that has been left untreated. Other times there may be water rising from the ground level, which can eventually saturate your entire home.

Most walls feature drywall, which is a highly absorbent material that counts cardboard-like paper on both the interior and exterior. When this material takes on any water, it begins to expand and may develop mold growth. While many water damage cases are easily observable, this particular kind is hard for the untrained eye to detect.

The exterior of the drywall will often dry out via evaporation. The surface layer receives greater airflow, which naturally allows for saturation to dry over time. The interior, on the other hand, can expand continuously due to the lack of airflow. This is where real damage can come into place.

Read more: Should You Replace Drywall If It Gets Wet?

Dirty, Stained, Water Damaged Wall

Steps for Drying Out a Wall

The best option available to you for drying out your wall is natural ventilation. This requires minimal intervention on your part. However, that doesn’t mean the problem will go away on its own. The origin of the saturation also plays a key role in approaching drying out the wall.

We strongly recommend that you get expert advice when attempting to dry out your wall. However, there are steps you can take personally to begin the ventilation process.

Step 1: Identify the Cause of the Saturation

Is the saturation caused by a burst pipe or a similar leak? If so, the first thing you need to do is stop the water flow at the source. This will prevent further saturation from occurring and will allow the wall to air properly.

You will need to call out an expert for more invasive procedures for more severe leaks or pipe-damage.

Step 2: Drain Excess Water That May Have Accumulated

If you feel confident and know there is an excess of water standing within the wall, then draining it may be a viable approach. Simply drill several holes, around 5cm above the ground and between 40-60cm apart, into the affected wall. The excess water should begin to drain.

If you do not feel confident about completing this, contact a professional. The last thing you want to do is accidentally drill into another pipe, therefore worsening the leak.

Step 3: Begin the Removal of Damaged Areas

It isn’t always easy to spot the areas of your wall that have been worst affected. Generally speaking, they can be identified by large, dark, damp areas. They may be cold or wet to the touch and may feel compromised, allowing them to bend or give too easily. Mold growth is an additional common sign of damaged walls.

If the water damage has reached a significant level, then removing these sections of the wall will be necessary. An expert will complete this for you without causing further damage to the structure of your home. Don’t take unnecessary risks by attempting it yourself.

Step 4: Thoroughly Ventilate the Affected Location

The ventilation process depends on whether there is airflow throughout the area. You can achieve airflow by opening doors and windows and placing one or two-room fans in front of the area. If you are attempting to dry a larger area, it’s helpful if your fans can move independently from left to right.

This approach is most effective as the increased air not only dries the wall, but it also removes moisture from the air. This means the evaporated water will not return to its original location once dried out.

Read more: How to detect moisture in walls

Reasons to Call in a Professional

Water damage can be especially damaging to your home. If you aren’t sure what you’re doing, you may accidentally cause more damage than actually fixing anything.

Additionally, you need to consider the aftereffects of severe water damage. It may appear that you’ve thoroughly dried out the wall by yourself, but to an untrained eye, the signs of water damage can be elusive. If you attempt to complete the process yourself, you may find problems arise despite your best efforts. This can include:

  • Mold growth
  • Foul odors
  • Structural damage

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Conclusion

Don’t take the risk of attempting this job yourself. Contact us at ADU to take care of your damage! Our experienced team at All Dry is happy to help with all of your concerns and queries. We can help assess the degree of damage and act to remove the problem permanently.

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