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Homeowners Worst Nightmare!

Water is the Earth's greatest natural resource. It is essential for life and plays a vital role in the proper function of all the Earth's ecosystems. However, if your home is invaded with it without prior warning, you should be wary. You could have a very minimal situation that does not require much effort on your part to clean up, or you could be confronted with the biggest, most costly situation you have ever encountered. The effort depends on what type of water came into your house, where it extended to, and how long it was there before being discovered.

Water Restoration - Water Types

There are three types of water that restoration companies use when assessing water damage. The most common type is clean water, which usually comes from an inside source like your water heater or plumbing pipes. Excessive rains and/or city-wide flooding brings in the second type, which is dirty water. Lastly, the most unwanted type is black water, which comes from the sewer. According to a study done by The Chubbs Insurance Company in 2005, the two leading causes for water damage to homes were due to frozen/bursting pipes and leaking roofs.

Water Damage Insurance Claims Cost

The average cost of claims rose 38% from $2,519 in 1998 to $3,469 in 2002. Most people confessed they had not taken any preventative measures to keep these things from happening. For example, 36% of people never checked their toilets, 61% of people never checked their water heaters, and 41% did not shut their main water valve down when they went out of town. According to a study performed by Lowes in California, 63% of homes insured, water related losses came to $1.7 billion between 1997-2001. The average insurance claim was $2,537 in 1997, which doubled in size to $4,730 in 2001.

Water Damage Leads to Mold

Water damage rarely stops at the surface of things either. If left to stand for even a couple of hours, mold and mildew spores will start to grow, bringing with them irreversible, black stains that multiply at a constant rate of speed. It is impossible to predict the total cost of what the water has damaged, until you get to the bottom of it!