Have you ever watched a magician perform the disappearing water trick, where water is poured into a cup, the cup is turned over and nothing comes out? It’s as if the water magically vanished into thin air! (Spoiler warning: sodium polyacrylate, the material within disposable diapers, is first placed in the bottom of the cup to soak up and hold the water.)
But water has the ability to disappear even with no “magic” involved. It’s very good at hiding and can be extremely hard to locate. In fact, at times it hides so well that it cannot be discovered unless specialized meters that perceive the presence of water are utilized. Why do you need to know this? Because although water is indispensable for life, it also dissolves more substances than any other liquid and the subsequent water damage it produces can adversely affect the structure of your South Carolina home or business.
But It Looks Dry…
Water can be hard to pin down due to the way that it moves. It extends out like the letter “T” – traveling parallel and downward from its source. Even though water seems to be sitting still, it’s really not. Gravity will keep pulling it down into the surface of the material it’s lying on. And as it moves, it will spread and soak into any porous (allowing liquid or air to pass through) materials it touches. Once it spreads out and down, it’s got another trick up its sleeve: it can also rise. This feat is accomplished by wicking action. For example, capillary action in porous materials allows water that’s sitting at the base of drywall to soak (or wick) up a wall at a rate of one inch per hour during a 24-hour cycle!
Because of water’s rambling behaviors, it can effortlessly hide behind insulation, inside outlets and electrical boxes, behind walls and cupboards, and within subfloors. Although a surface may feel dry, there could still be moisture concealed underneath or inside of it. What this could mean for your South Carolina home or business is that secondary damage such as mold or warping can happen. It may even ruin costly hardwood floors.
Who Cleans up Water Damage Professionally?
Don’t delay! The more time that water is left to infiltrate a structure, the more damage is created. Postponing the decision to do anything about the problem will also increase drying time, adding to the expense of restoration.
So, if you have, or even if you think you have water damage in your home or business, it’s vital to call the professionals from Kingsley Water Damage Restoration. We’re South Carolina’s trusted water damage restoration and water damage cleanup company. We will come and test for moisture with our specially designed moisture meters and thermal imaging cameras. With these tools, we’re able to locate the affected areas and expose for you the extent of the damage. Then our highly trained techs will get busy extracting the water and drying up the moisture to make sure no further damage arises, bringing your property back to its pre-loss condition or better.
Why do we do this? Because water can’t hide from Kingsley Water Damage Restoration!