What You Should Know About Secondary Damage

3/14/2019 (Permalink)

Water damage in walls and wooden floor as a result of water absorption

Water damage that affects your home in Kansas City, MO, can unfortunately cause additional issues such as black mold and other problems following the primary damage. It’s often useful to understand what problems often follow primary damage in order to prevent more destruction from occurring.

How Quickly Does It Occur?

After primary damage occurs in a home, secondary problems can occur in a short amount of time. In general, there are various factors that can affect how quickly secondary problems will occur. However, in many instances, the following can occur after the initial water damage:

• Mold can grow as soon as 24-48 hours
• Water from a clean source can become contaminated within days
• Structural issues can begin within hours
  
  

Common Examples

There are a wide variety of issues that can take place after a home is impacted by flooding. Common problems that occur as the result of the primary damage often include:

• Black mold growing in areas that are damp
• Wooden floors beginning to warp after they have absorbed water
• Structural damage in walls as a result of water absorption and high humidity levels
  
  

Can This Type of Destruction Be Prevented?

Although it’s not always possible to prevent flooding, there are often steps you can take to prevent additional issues. Turning off the water in your home and keeping your home as dry as possible can decrease the likelihood of more problems occurring. Maintaining the wellbeing of the appliances in and around your home and fixing small problems can sometimes prevent flooding altogether. After your home has been affected by flooding, it can also be wise to contact water damage restoration professionals who can assist in mitigation efforts.

Secondary damage such as black mold doesn’t have to be inevitable after a disaster. After your home is affected by flooding, it’s often useful to know when issues secondary to the initial flooding can occur, common examples of additional complications and how to prevent further devastation.