Monitoring Your House for Water Damage

3/18/2022 (Permalink)

Negligence led to this sink flooding and damaging the floor below.

Question

How can one watch out for water damage? What is the purpose of monitoring a home?

Water Damage Clues

There are many clues that can give away a future water damage situation requiring remediation.

• Wet floor
• Paint peeling/pulling
• Black spots appearing on surfaces
• Moist, musty smell
• Wet couches, carpets, or other items
• Utility bill increases unnecessarily
• Leaks
• Strange sounds like drips

Watching out for more than one of these is important as water damage rarely comes to light until it's festered a while.

Monitoring Your Home

Monitoring can prevent a future water damage or detect it before it causes more harm.

Luckily, some vigilance and work is all it takes to keep on track and prevent this issue. Appliances are a large water and fire risk if not maintained properly. A quick check of the floors and walls during routine cleaning increases one's chance of finding water spots. Having a baseline water bill gives an average amount which can be used to detect irregularities in one's water system. Monitoring does not have to be a complicated process; a simple system that allows one to detect odd spots, smells, and sounds is enough.

This will give you the edge on a crisis before it wreaks havoc on your home.