Water Damage Restoration Plymouth MN | Broken Water Pipes
Prevent Water Damage From Broken Water Pipes Water damage or basement flooding can come from a variety of sources. There could be bad weather conditions or there could be a leaky or broken pipeline. Even a cracked foundation will result in water damage. If it was something as simple as a faucet, you can do it your self. But, it can get more complicated when a hidden pipeline is broken. Frozen, Broken Water Pipes Can Be Home Owner Nightmare Water is capable of causing extensive damage to your home property with damage to floors, ceilings, walls, rugs, furniture and other personal property. A slight 1/8-inch crack in a water pipe can release and amazing 250 gallons of water per day. Broken Water Pipes Broken Water Pipe in a home in Plymouth MN from a pinhole leak First identify the extent of the water damage by inspecting the area for stains and softness. You also want to pinpoint the source of the problem. Pipe breaks are a leading cause of flood damage. In most cases, pipes break during freezing weather. In fact, frozen and broken water pipes rank No. 2 behind hurricanes in terms of both the number of homes damaged and the amount of claim costs in the U.S. As temperatures fall, water expands and causes localized pressure. When the pressure becomes too great, a break occurs. This may create a pinhole leak, hairline break or large crack. Find That Leaking Pipe! The dripping water may be coming from quite a distance away and is certainly an indication of a much greater problem. If you know there is water leaking, but you cannot find the source yourself, then you should get professional help right away. These types of problems only get worse the longer they are left untreated. Broken Water Pipe in a home in Plymouth MN Pinhole leak in ceiling water pipe in the basement Removed wet sheet rock and insulation If the insulation is wet, remove it and dispose of properly. After being wet, most insulation is ineffective, but it will continue to hold moisture for a long time and will create high moisture conditions which will damage metal, masonry, and wood. Materials in your home that get wet from leaks, like sheet rock, wood and carpet, can not only result in expensive repairs but pose a serious health threat from mold and mildew. Do not attempt to dry sheetrock. It is impossible to completely remove mold from porous surfaces such as paper, Sheetrock (drywall) and carpet padding, so these materials should be removed and discarded. Usually, attempts to dry sheetrock after a flood have been a waste of time and effort because it is labor intensive to dry interior walls and it is not possible to dry interior walls with insulation or multiple layered sheetrock. Mold resistant sheetrock may be specified when installing replacement sheetrock. • Disinfected and dried structure Drywall Water Damage If you have a sheetrock (drywall) water damage repair job due to a leaky or broken pipe, a flood or other cause you need to give it immediate attention. If mold gets in or behind drywall, it’s a serious matter. Where there has been water damage, black mold may appear, but mold can also grow in areas that are hidden. It’s common for fungus to spread to nearby areas, such as surrounding walls, floors, carpets and ceilings. The big concerns with drywall water damage repair, is being absolutely certain that you are not overlooking the true extent of the damage. Sagging or wet drywall is easy to identify and cut away. But there...
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Prevent Frozen Pipes and Water Damage Winter storms can cause significant damage for homeowners. Although weather forecasting has improved over the years, the intensity of a winter storm can be difficult to predict. Storms this time of year are the third largest cause of catastrophe losses, behind only hurricanes and tornadoes. In these hazardous conditions homeowners can have problems with frozen pipes. When pipes burst because they froze or snow accumulation leads to significant water intrusion, your home and contents can suffer significant damage. Even if you live in an area where your home is frequently subjected to sub-zero temperatures and your plumbing system is designed to handle the cold temperatures, loss of power or heat can lead to frozen pipes and catastrophic damage. If you are located in a region that is prone to freezing temperatures taking steps to prevent frozen pipes and other leaks can reduce the risk of property damage. Cold Weather Homeowners Tips Thousands of families have one or more rooms in their homes ruined and their lives disrupted each winter by water pipes freezing and bursting. When the outside temperature drops below 20 degrees Fahrenheit, water pipes in homes with little or no insulation are likely to freeze and break. A one-eighth inch crack in a pipe can spew out more than 250 gallons of water a day, causing serious water damage to your home, destroying floors, furniture, appliances and personal items. According to the Institute for Business and Home Safety, claim payments by all insurance companies over the past decade for these kinds of losses have exceeded $4 billion. If you’re leaving for a trip or are concerned about a coming cold snap, there’s plenty you can do. Frozen water pipes represent the biggest potential problem for most homes. A little advance planning will usually prevent frozen pipes. Insulate pipes, especially those leading to the outside, and plug holes around the pipes with insulation or spray-in foam. Make sure there is warm air flowing around pipes that are located near an outside wall. Check pipes under sinks to make sure they will get adequate heat. Set the heat in the home warm enough to avoid problems. At night, the heating system needs to circulate water through radiator and baseboard heating units to avoid freezing. Make sure there is clear access to the main water shut-off valve in case there is a leak or a pipe suddenly bursts. Open the water faucets in your sinks enough to allow a slow trickle of water to maintain the flow of water in the lines and help prevent freezing. Make sure your sink drains are open. Shut off the water supply during periods when the home may be unoccupied, particularly when colder weather is expected. Water Damage Cleanup Minnesota homeowners, property managers, building owners, and churches suffering the effects of frozen pipes, cleaning needs to be done quickly to avoid further damage. The temperature and weather conditions may not be ideal for a cleanup, but it is imperative that you act quickly to avoid mold growth. Mold formation is the greatest setback most people face when dealing with water damage. Molding due to water damage can spoil possessions and can cause health problems. Some health problems triggered by exposure to mold include allergic reactions such as asthma, non-allergic reactions such as headaches, as well as lung and breathing infections. If the water damage is minimal, you may be able to do the clean up yourself. The amount of cleanup you can do by yourself will depend on the extent of the water damage. Otherwise contact a Minnesota water...
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Minnesota Water Damage Restoration Minneapolis MN Water damage cleanup, repair and restoration can be a costly operation. In fact, water damage is one of the top reasons why most home insurance plan holders make claims. Most water damages are caused due to burst pipes, leaky appliances and flooded basements. When your home suffers from storm damage, a flooded basement, sewage damage, immediate action is required to remove the water and minimize the damage and loss. The winters are a time when water intrusion into your home has an added opportunity to occur when it snows and the temperatures remain at or below freezing for a minimum of 2-3 days. Although the first half of the 2011-2012 Winter storm season has been relatively mild, it is still possible for Old Man Winter to pack a powerful punch. Winter weather that is more severe than usual in your area can cause a number of problems ranging from water leaks to burst pipes, flooded basements, and roof collapses. These problems are frequently thought of as a northern climate problem. However, whenever an unusually cold spell occurs or a particularly heavy ice or snow accumulation builds up for the area, some buildings start getting into trouble. Ice Dams Ice dams — or ice buildup on roof eaves are all too obvious and all too familiar to Minnesota homeowners. Snow buildup on your roofs can form what are called “ice dams” and leak water into your attic. If enough moisture penetrates through your roofing materials and gets absorbed in the insulation or sheet rock, you won’t notice it until the damage has reached a level that could require a professional to remove it. If you uncover snow-related damage to your home as you are digging out from a blizzard, keep in mind the insurance industry’s approach to paying water-related damages. Snow, after all, is but frozen water and insurers have canceled policies, reduced coverage and raised rates to fight the growing numbers of claims paid for water- and moisture-related damage. Insurers also encourage policy holders to do what they can to avoid the need for such claims. If you are a repeat “offender” with previous moisture-related claims or didn’t previously take steps to prevent or minimize snow damage and damage that could result when snow melts, you could lose your policy, get hit with higher premiums or discover the snow-related damage simply isn’t covered. Maintain Your Home Throughout A Snow Storm “Mold is an issue right now. If you didn’t clean up that puddle of water for three months and it creates mold, it gets tricky. The industry prefers that you take care of your home as much as possible. Houses that have been flooded are at serious risk for molds, especially in areas when are high humidity and temperatures provide the mold with the perfect place to reproduce before cleanup begins. Juries have awarded huge sums of money to homeowners who initiated lawsuits against their insurance companies, with most awards given to people whose insurer did not pay for moisture-related repairs in time to prevent severe mold problems. Freezing conditions such as burst pipes or ice dams, a condition where water is unable to drain properly through the gutters and seeps into a house causing damage to ceilings and walls, is covered (while the actual pipe itself is generally not covered). However, there is generally a requirement that the homeowner has taken reasonable steps to prevent these losses by keeping the house warm and properly maintaining the pipes and drains. Standard homeowners policies typically cover losses related to bursting pipes, ice dams, wind damage,...
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Emergency Water Damage Repair Services MN Restoring your home or business after water damage is a frustrating experience. Fortunately, natural disasters don’t occur every day, and hopefully you’ll never have to deal with water damage from rising water or flooding. However, simple plumbing leaks or overflows, broken or burst pipes and sewer or septic backups are far more common. While dealing with water damage may seem fairly simple (mop or wet vacuum; fans used to promote evaporation), unfortunately, this fails to consider the degree to which water can penetrate into structural cavities and assemblies, creating trapped pockets of saturation. Too late, property owners become aware of the on-going effect of this trapped water on structural and contents materials, which may include: discoloration, warping, splitting, delamination, and musty odor and mold growth. Church in Ogilvie MN Water Damage In this example, the water main broke in their building, creating quite a water damage emergency. Humidity level was high and had to be controlled to prevent further damage. To dry the entire structure, all the water had to be extracted from the entire building. Moisture and its effects in your house or business can cause a lot of harm, like the growth of mildew and mold, and dry rot, and if not cared for it can carry with it seriously large problems if not skillfully extracted. Any drying being done must be Done Right to see to it that there aren’t any environments which promote and allow hazardous materials to flourish, taking your home or business and turning it into an problematic one that will only get bigger if not cared for. Most of the damages can be minimized thereby reducing major expenses, by quick and timely action. Every delay is only going to make matters worse. Cleaning it up quickly will restore your property and protect your health. 24 Hour Emergency Water Damage Removal MN The consequences of ineffective restoration – including possible health effects – are far too great to leave water damage improperly restored. Most property owners are not familiar with the essential steps and tactics for proper restoration, and naturally, they have a lot of questions. That’s where you need the help of a certified Minnesota water damage expert that can and will dispatch a crew to your home within the hour to do an evaluation!!! He or she will be qualified through formal training and experience to remove excess water efficiently, to promote efficient evaporation and to establish the dehumidification conditions necessary to stop on-going damage. They will have the proper state-of-the-art equipment, such as Fans, Dehumidifiers, Air Scrubbers, Ozone Machines, Desiccants that can save most...
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Minnetonka, Minnesota Water Damage Restoration Water Damage to Your Home Water damage is one of the most common reasons for claims against insurance policies. Does your homeowner insurance policy cover you against the most common types of water damage? Many homeowners only find out what their insurance policy doesn’t cover when they make a claim. Homeowners Insurance: Is Your Home Insured Against Water Damage? Will My Insurance Cover It? Yes. No. Maybe. The single most confusing element related to water damage is what is and is not covered. Find out what you have, or don’t have, and learn what you need when it comes to water damage and your insurance. Many homeowners only find out what their insurance policy doesn’t cover when they make a claim. Here are some of the most common types of water damage, and what you can expect if you need to make a claim. 1. A pipe bursts in your home and floods the living areas. Are you covered? It depends on the circumstances, but generally the answer is a qualified yes. Your homeowner will usually cover the damages to your home and furnishings, but not the cost of repairing the burst pipe. The repairs to the pipe are considered a home maintenance issue rather than an unforeseen circumstance. There are some exceptions, since your insurer does expect you to take reasonable care and caution with your property. You may not be covered, for instance, if you left your home unoccupied and unheated for several days in the dead of winter and a pipe bursts as a consequence. 2. A sewer overflows, flooding your finished basement with water and sewage. Will your homeowner insurance cover the cleanup costs? Unless you have a special endorsement or rider covering damage from sewers and drains, you may be on your own. Many, if not most, homeowner policies specifically exclude damage caused by sewer backups and overflows. If your home has a finished basement or a basement workshop, a sewers and drains rider could be worth its weight in gold. Often, the cost of repairing the damage after a sewer backup goes far beyond replacing the carpet. You could be faced with massive cleanup and decontamination costs. 3. Your washing machine breaks, and the flood of water damages your living room carpet. Will your insurance pay to clean the carpet? Generally, the answer is yes. A standard homeowner policy will cover the cost of cleaning or replacing the carpet when an unexpected appliance breakage damages your property. There may be exceptions to this, however, especially if your insurer determines that your washing machine hasn’t been appropriately maintained. 4. Your roof leaks during a heavy rainstorm, soaking your daughter’s bedroom walls and furnishings. Will your insurance cover the damage? Your homeowner policy will usually cover the damage to property caused by the water, but not the cost of repairing the roof. That could include the cost of repairing and repainting or papering the walls, replacing damaged furniture and cleaning draperies, bedding and clothing. If the leak was caused by something more drastic, say a tree branch crashing through your roof, the insurance will also cover the cost of repairs to your roof. 5. Your bathtub overflows, and the water damages the floor and the ceiling below. Can you make a claim? Yes. Even if the overflow was your fault because you forgot to turn off the faucet, your homeowner policy will usually pay to repair the damage. 6. Your swimming pool leaks and the water damages your garden and lawn. What will your insurance cover? Usually, nothing. Damage to your...
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