Water Damage Restoration in Buildings

Water and moisture damage in buildings has many different causes. The consequences are often the appearance of visible or invisible mould. In addition to correct insurance arrangements, proper and professional restoration includes a thorough preliminary examination, if necessary a second opinion from an independent expert and a successful inspection as proof of acceptance of the work.

If building surfaces are soaked superficially or even more deeply and the moisture lasts for more than three days, the damage can usually no longer be repaired by drying measures alone. After three days of moisture, mould begins to grow and sooner or later odours appear .

Causes of water damage in buildings

• Rainfall due to roof leaks, roof construction, flooding or high water levels.

• Rainfall due to a leak in a gutter or its overflow, for example due to blockage.

• Water leaks in drinking water or heating pipes due to cracks, corrosion, connection leaks, hose breaks, etc.

• Water leakage from a drain pipe in the event of a blockage, breakage, cracking or sewer overflow.

• Water leaks from aquariums, bathtubs or overflowing sinks.

• Water ingress due to leaks in the silicone joints.

• Special cases are moisture loads of building materials in new buildings and renovations due to evaporation of mixing water for mortar, plaster, concrete and screed.

Mold infestation due to water from the bathroom several feet away. It went under the sill to the opposite wall and soaked it.

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Gradual damage

In the case of small leaks in pipes or leaking joints, the consequences are initially not visible or are only hidden. Water seeps into walls, shafts or under the screed for a long time: often weeks, sometimes months, pass before anything is noticed. However, then damp patches with or without mould growth or traces of moisture appear in the form of salt efflorescence or dry edges on wall surfaces close to the floor.

If wallpapers, plasterboards or gypsum plasters, clay plasters or glue paints are affected, mould usually grows very quickly and, in the case of dry construction walls, of course also invisibly inside cavity wall constructions. In wooden houses or in buildings with wood-based insulation materials, wood-based material boards or with dry constructions made of wood, in addition to mold, wood-destroying fungi such as dry rot or brown rot in the basement very often grow. This often happens directly with gradual damage or other long-lasting effects of humidity that are not detected from the beginning.

Damage caused by dry rot fungus can be expensive, which is why it is often excluded from insurance policies. However, in any case, it must be remediated comprehensively to avoid further damage .

When wood and wood materials become mouldy, there is often a typical forest fungus smell, which can be noticeable long before actually seeing the infestation. Often, occupants gradually become accustomed to the smell and therefore do not even notice the damage. 

Moisture in impact sound insulation

Even in the case of damage due to visible water leakage, additional problems can arise, the full extent of which is not immediately apparent: if, for example, leaked water passes through an edge joint under the screed or through the floor structure, then it has been lost for the time being.

Most people affected do not give it much thought, wipe away the water that is visible on the surface and carry on living their lives unconcerned for the time being. However, the water has spread over a large area of ​​the building structure, in the case of concrete floor and ceiling constructions, usually below the slab, at the insulation level. This is where the insulation material or dust more or less incorporated during the construction phase begins to mould.

Insulation layers under the screed are present in almost all buildings in Germany from the 1960s. Today, polystyrene boards and mineral fibre mats are mainly used, although polyurethane insulation boards are also common. However, there are also many other insulation materials: perlite granules, cork boards with and without bitumen, cork granules, wood chips, softwood fibre boards, expanded clay balls and much more. New materials are constantly coming onto the market.

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Each material requires different remediation measures. All materials have in common that they offer good conditions for mould growth with moisture penetrating and always with dust incorporated from the installation phase.

Water damage in a manufactured home bathroom went unnoticed for a long time: mold and dry rot attacked and damaged all the floor joists all the way to the adjacent rooms.

Odors and hygiene

Damage is usually only noticeable when they start to smell rotten and mouldy. The different odours arise because bacteria grow well initially at high humidity, but die and decompose as the humidity decreases . Only at this stage does mold take over.

Mold and bacteria in building materials and in their cavities can cause the air to become contaminated with particles and metabolic gases and cause or intensify various health problems. There has not been sufficient research, but these germ infestations are always a hygiene problem . In its publications, the Federal Environment Agency (UBA) often assumes a problem situation in the event of prolonged moisture in building components and therefore often recommends the complete removal of contaminated materials.