How Water Vapor Is a Lingering Threat to Flood Damaged Homes in Cutler Bay

12/3/2019 (Permalink)

Water vapor is an invisible threat to your home. We have the expertise to remove the vapor and dry your home.

Why SERVPRO Monitors Water Vapor in Houses with Flood Damage in Cutler Bay 

Already heavily saturated ground in the Cutler Bay area means additional precipitation must runoff to lower ground. Areas of land where depressions or vast expanses of level ground occur can let water can pool and cause harm to any residential properties in the area. While significant flooding is most often on people's minds, minor flooding can also cause significant property damage.  

Water vapor's dramatic increase during and after flooding in Cutler Bay is why SERVPRO uses it to monitor flood damage mitigation work. While warmer air can more easily hold more massive amounts of water than the same amount of colder air can contain, the presence of moisture tends to lower the temperature. The role each plays with the other affects how efficient our efforts are at cleaning up flood damage.  

Knowing how much moisture the air contains, along with how much moisture content is in the wooden components and other materials in a flooded home, informs us of the need for additional equipment. Using another air mover, desiccant machine, or heater can make an enormous difference in the amount of damage a residence sustains.  

When the temperatures drops inside a structure, the amount of air does not change much. However, the amount of water vapor causes the  temperature air can maintain to decrease. This decrease means the rate of evaporation slows down. When it slows down, materials like wooden framework dry out more slowly.  

Staying damp longer provides microbes longer to multiply. It also causes wood to warp more, and this can also lead to splitting or cracking. Split or cracked wood loses a significant amount of strength. If too many beams weaken, it can cause structural problems in the house. An additional heating source can prevent this from causing problems and slowing down our progress.  

When the temperature is high enough that the air should remain nearly saturated, drying takes place swiftly. However, if our devices detect that materials like wooden door frames continue to retain copious amounts of moisture, we must increase the amount of air movement in the house. We can often do this by changing the setting on the air movers already present or by adding another one.  

Adding another desiccant machine also assists us in ridding the air of its moisture at a steady pace. Other measures, including venting the air to the outside, help immensely. When outdoor air is as damp or damper than the air inside, we often use tubing to force air directly outside without leaving any more space on the window open.  

SERVPRO of Cutler Bay also wants to eliminate any delays your family experiences in returning home after a flood. Damaged homes displace homeowners, so we work diligently to reduce the amount of time you and your family face after a flood. Call (305) 278-8484 for fast service and swift restoration of your Franjo, Three Lakes, and Palmetto Bay residence. 

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