Home Buyers Water Damage Signs Check List

Often at the start of the new year, many people decide to begin their search for a new home.  Whether they are looking for a new build or a previously owned home, the experts at Mold Removal Florida . net would like to give you a few things to look out for to help your home hunt be successful and to aid you in avoiding common new buyer traps such as water or mold damage problems.

While shopping for a new home or even a vacation property, it is important to know what the signs of water damage are so you can sport them long before you get into a potential buyer’s contract. Knowing what to look for during your home search can help you greatly in the long end. Not only will it give you an idea of the work that may need to be done to restore the home but it will flag the fact that the home does have problems. Too often, especially during recent years when the marketplace has been flooded by foreclosures and poorly flippers properties, home buyers are complaining of home inspections that did not show serious water damage or mold damage problems. While home inspectors are supposed to record all findings of damage or problems to the home, some do not.  So what is a home buyer to do?

Click to find out: Water Damage Signs Check List

Water Damage Restoration Certification Explained

If you have ever experience flood damage in your home, you are probably familiar with water damage restoration companies.  Water mitigation performed by restoration companies involves restoring a property back to pre-loss condition after sustaining any level of water damage.  As within several industries, there are some companies that train and receive certification and some that do not.

While there are currently no government regulations in the United States dictating procedures, two large certifying bodies, the Institute of Inspection, Cleaning and Restoration Certification (IICRC) and the Restoration Industry Association (RIA), do recommend standards of care by establishing and monitoring certification programs and standards for restoration industries.  It is generally considered “best practice” to work with a certified water damage restoration firm like 800drymeout.com when needing help with flood cleanup, water extraction and mold removal.

Find out about certification firms and process here: Water Damage Restoration Certification

7 More Winter Water Damage Prevention Tips

In our last post, we started our discussion on ways to prevent winter water damage to your house or property.  Here are the final 7 tips you can follow to help keep your home warm, dry and cozy this winter season!

Tip 7: Insulate water pipes and faucets in unheated areas




Frozen pipes can usually be prevented by keeping all the pipes in your house properly insulated. Usually wrapping the pipes in traditional foam insulation is adequate, provided that your home’s temperature does not get too cold. If you have pipes in an unheated garage, cold crawl space or attic, wrap the water pipes before temperatures decline. Hardware supply stores will have good wrapping materials available. Also, insulate the sides of your water tanks, especially if they are kept in an unheated garage.

Read tips 8 to 13: 7 More Winter Water Damage Prevention Tips

We hope you find our tips helpful in preventing any flooding or burst pipes in your home.  If you have any questions, please feel free to contact us at Mold Removal Clearwater . com.

Toilet Flapper Breaks and House Flood Spring Hill

Recently, we worked on flood damage case in Spring Hill.  Thank you to Janine for posting this testimonial on Facebook:

"Came home to my whole house flooded. Thanks so much to Advanced Restoration Inc. for fast response and making me feel at ease."

Now for the story!

Janine was out and upon returning home, she arrived at a flooded house! The flapper was broken on a toilet so the water kept running and eventually overflowed all over the place!

A flapper is a rubber mechanism in your toilet tank that is the moving part of the flush valve.  It seals water into the tank and allows water to exit the tank when you flush.  Unfortunately, like many things, flappers deteriorate over time, often as a result of in-tank cleaning products.

Read the rest of Toilet Flapper Breaks and House Flood Spring Hill

For all your water damage restoration needs, call the experts on duty 24/7.  1-800-DRY-ME-OUT.

6 Tips To Prevent Winter Water Damage

Avoid the havoc caused by burst or cracked pipes by following some simple winter water damage care tips.  Here are the first 6 of 13 tips brought to you by the restoration experts at Mold Removal Clearwater . com.

Tip 1: Go outside



Take a few minutes to do some basic checks around the home to help prevent a small leak from becoming a disaster. Look at your roof: are there any dislodged tiles? Is all your visible pipe work leak or drip free? Also check the insulation around water pipes in exposed areas. A small gap can easily mean a frozen pipe when temperatures hit minus degrees.

 Tip 2: Check gutters



Clearing gutters and drainpipes of leaves to prevent blockages and overflows will help alleviate problems with water freezing and bursting in exterior pipes. This should be done throughout the year as a maintenance plan.

Read tips 3 to 6 here: 13 Tips To Prevent Winter Water Damage

Check back later this week for winter water damage prevention tips 7 – 13.

If you need any help with flood cleanup, contact the flooding experts at Mold Removal Clearwater . com.  We are now offering flood cleanup water damage Brandon services.

Flood Clean Up Water Damage in The Villages

December is not only a busy time of year for the holidays, it is also a busy month for water damage restoration.  Unfortunately, flooding doesn’t take a break during the month of December and pipes don’t care if they end up on Santa’s naughty list or not.

Last night, we received a call regarding a kitchen flood in The Villages.  The homeowners came home at the end of the day to a pond in their kitchen area.  We sent our water mitigation team out to the site for emergency restoration.

Our experts arrived at the site and upon entering the kitchen, they were able to quickly detect that the flood was coming from a pipe leak under neath the sink.  It was lucky that the homeowners called because the flooding could have become much worse. We were able to find and stop the water leak before the flood reached any other area of the home like the nearby living room, bathroom or living room.


Read the whole article here: Clean Up Water Damage in The Villages

If you would like any more information on kitchen flooding or need help with water mitigation, please contact the insurance experts at 1-800-DRY-ME-OUT.  We are available 24/7.

Remember, a dry home is a happy home!

Mitigate Water Damage Problems From Ground Sloping

Last week, we discussed some ways that your property can become a victim or water damage due to grading issues.  This week, we will continue and talk about ways to mitigate flooding from sloping problems.

Often, if your property has sloping issues and you are requiring flood cleanup, restoration companies may take an extra step to waterproof the foundation of a house.



Waterproofing foundation is a fairly easy thing to do and requires a few steps. The first step includes coating the foundation with a liquid rubberized membrane. The next step is to lay a fiberglass mesh against the membrane and then apply a second coat of the rubber membrane. This sandwiching effect creates a waterproof barrier that never fully cures, thus, promoting flexibility during cold snaps. Instead of cracking, the membrane will flex with cold temperatures. Once the membrane is complete, a thin piece of plastic will be adhered on top and then a drainage board will be hung on top of the plastic. A drainage board is plastic board that is dimpled on the exterior side and serves as a waterproofing membrane, keeping water from penetrating to the surface of the wall, and as protection for the membrane on the wall during backfilling. Any water that may get through can trickle down to the foundation drains through the space formed by the dimples. With the drainage board in place, the holes in the ground can be refilled.

Read the rest of the article: Mitigate Water Damage Problems From Ground Sloping

In sum, a home that is built with proper grading and sloping in mind will do wonders to protect the structure of the house from water damage.  For any more information on this topic or if your property is in need of water mitigation or extraction, please contact the insurance experts at Water Damage Clearwater . net.  Now offering flood cleanup Lady Lakes, FL.

House Grading Problems Lead to Water Damage

A huge culprit of water damage is improper grading on a property site.  Sometimes, homes just aren’t built right and when they aren’t, a domino effect of problems usually arises.  Two major problems that restoration companies often run into are water damage and mold requiring restoration and remediation. But what are the actual structural issues that lead to this?

One major factor that can lead to water damage resulting in the need for mold removal  is improper grading or improper ground slope. What this means is that the property or parts of the property are sloping towards the house instead of away from the house. This can be a serious issue because often what happens is that when it rains, water will drain into the house and thus cause excess water resulting in mold growth, wood rot and more. In some cases, it is the driveway that pitches towards the house and often into a sunken garage that is causing all the problems. So essentially, the garage becomes a bath tub.  Water damage restoration companies that have come across such an issue will often report findings of mold in the garage, flood pools and in severe cases, mushrooms growing on the walls due to the constant increased humidity and present moisture.

Read the whole article here: House Grading Problems Lead to Water Damage

If you need water mitigation help, contact our team at Water Damage Clearwater . net.  We are always standing by!

Causes of Water Damage and Mold Growth

When it comes to water damage, it is most often unexpected. No one expects a pipe to burst or even damage from sewer backup. The trouble is that water damage can become a real problem if it is too severe and it can cause more than one issue including mold growth.



Water damage may occur if there is a flood or even a leak somewhere in the house. These leaks can happen at virtually any time, though the most common occurrences include the bathroom, roof leaks and pinhole leaks. Bathroom water damage can be as slight as excessive humidity that causes mold to grow, to sewer damage resulting in toilet overflow, causing a massive flood that will stream out from the bathroom and to the rest of your house. There have been reports of homeowners who were asleep when the sewer damage occurred and they didn’t notice the backup until morning at which time the majority of their house was flooded by contaminated sewage water and materials.

Read more Causes of Water Damage

For more information on water mitigation and mold removal, please contact the insurance experts at Mold Removal Brooksville . com.