Assessing Water Damage

9/18/2017 (Permalink)

A water damage occurs when a pipe breaks, plumbing backs up, flood waters rise, or a number of other reasons in which water enters a structure.

Water restoration is the act of making it "Like it never even happened" which is our specialty at SERVPRO of Springfield. 

Many homeowners who experience a water damage often don't know where to start. The first step is assessing the situation and responding appropriately.

There are two criteria for categorizing water damages: Class, and Category.

The Class of water damage refers to the extent of damage and how much moisture has been soaked up (or bound) in the building material.

There are 4 Classes of water damages:

Class 1 - water is confined to a small area and materials absorb very little water.

Class 2 - where wet materials represent approximately 5-40% of combined floor, wall, and ceiling surface area in a space

Class 3 - wet materials represent more than 40% surface area

Class 4 - this class of damage is a special case where water has been deeply absorbed into the structure and special methods need to be employed beyond a regular drying plan.

Category refers to the level of contamination caused by the water:

Category 1 - originates from a sanitary source, meaning a supply line or sink overflow with no contaminants

Category 2 - water that contains some contaminants such as washing machine or dishwasher rinse water

Category 3 - this includes all water that is significantly contaminated and can cause illness if ingested. This would include sewage, standing water with microbial growth, or water from a toilet containing fecal matter

If you have a water damage that needs to be assessed and for help with the cleanup call SERVPRO of Springfield at 217-528-7775