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When experiencing a water emergency it is helpful to understand the drying process or the science of drying. Basically too much water in your business or home will cause severe damage. The initial damage that water can do is devastating. It destroys some things that are irreplaceable, like pictures and keep sakes. Secondary damage can be equally devastating. Some examples of secondary damages are; microbial growth, fungus, mold, and odor, decaying wood or sheet rock and mildew. These are not only unsightly but harmful to your heath and can be extremely costly to repair if left untreated.
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When suffering a water damage problem, a quick response the most critical course of action. Where abnormal moisture is present, microorganisms will rapidly multiply and cause structural damage, create odors, and cause health issues to those occupying the building or home. The solution is what we call a restorative drying process.
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Three Day Drying Time
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In the drying process we turn all the liquid water into a gas (a vapor). This is better known as evaporation. Evaporation happens when we raise the temperature of the air and use aggressive air movers. These air movers are strategically placed in your building or home to speed up the evaporation process. Once we turn water to a vapor our dehumidifiers suck in the cooler wet air. Our dehumidifiers freeze the gas (water vapor) turning it back into a liquid. This is better known as condensation. |
| Then they (the dehumidifiers) pump the water out into a sink or drain, extracting it from your structure. After the dehumidifiers freezes the cooler intake air, removing the water, a heater in the dehumidifier heats the air and pumps it into the room, thus sending drier warmer air into the wet air, which speeds up the evaporation process. This process is repeated 1000?s of times until your structure, carpet, floors, sheetrock and furniture is dry. This drying process can take up to 5 days to complete.
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Evaporation: liquid changing to a vapor. This occurs as energy is increased.
Condensation: vapor changing to a liquid. This occurs as energy is removed.
Surfaces below dew point temperature will condense water out of the air.
In a wet building the relative humidity can be as high as a 100%.
Relative humidity: the ratio of the moisture suspended in the air relative to the air?s total holding capacity. Our goal is to reduce the relative humidity to 40% with in the first 24 hours. Water goes to dry if it can so as the air dries the water in the carpet or wood or sheetrock evaporates into the air. This process dries the structure reducing the possibility of secondary damage. Secondary damage occurs when your relative humidity is 60% or higher for a substantial amount of time. This is why a quick response is crucial!
Simply put its all about air flow, temperature and humidity. We try and duplicate Mother Nature!