Signs that Your Property Has Poor Drainage

Without proper drainage, your property is at a much higher risk for damage caused by flooding and erosion. Poor drainage can even negatively affect your home from the foundation up to its roof. This is why it’s vital to keep an eye out for signs of drainage problems in your yard and around your home.

Here are some of the most common red flags to watch for.

1. Soil Erosion in Your Yard

When soil encounters a large amount of water, it can start to move, drop, and slide if the water does not have a drainage avenue. This movement of the soil is what’s called erosion. This type of erosion frequently occurs in flower beds, but you may also see it occurring in more problematic areas, such as around your patio/deck, your walkways, or even your home’s foundation.

2. Water Pools Under Your Downspouts

Your downspout is the part of your gutters located closest to the ground, and its main purpose is to direct the water exiting it away from your home. However, if water pools right underneath your downspouts, this indicates that your downspout is not ideally positioned to direct water away from your home and might even contribute to a water damage issue.

3. You see soil on your sidewalk after it rains.

If water is allowed to accumulate, it can lift topsoil on your property and carry it to other locations. Some common signs of this are soil or mulch left on your sidewalk or clogging the drains in your yard after a rainstorm. This indicates that your property needs a better drainage path or paths to prevent water from accumulating and carrying off your soil.

4. Your crawlspace has puddles or is consistently damp.

Ideally, you never want water to enter your crawlspace because the excess moisture can lead to a number of issues. A moist crawlspace provides a prime environment for mildew and mold, and it also attracts rodents and insects. If your crawlspace contains any unsealed ductwork, mold spores and pest leavings and can infiltrate your air supply and have a negative effect on your indoor air quality.

If you suspect that your home may have water damage, don’t hesitate to contact GreenPro Cleaning & Restoration for a water damage evaluation.

5 Facts About Water Damage

Homes can suffer from water damage in numerous ways during any time of year. Whether water damage results from plumbing issues, frozen pipes, roof leaks, or floods, it can end up costing thousands of dollars to control and repair.

Here are 5 important facts to remember regarding the extent of the problems that water damage can cause.

1. Even after water is removed from your home, damage can still occur.

Once water is soaked up or pumped out of your home, there still might be moisture left behind. This moisture can threaten the structural integrity of materials like wood and drywall. Excess moisture can also lead to serious mold problems, which can weaken the structure of your home and also threaten your indoor air quality.

2. Mold can start growing in a few as 24 hours.

It’s never a good idea to put off water damage repairs. The biggest reason why is how fast mold is able to grow. If given the right combination of conditions (oxygen, moisture, darkness, and organic material), mold can start growing in less than one day.

3. Small plumbing leaks can give out a lot of water.

Aging pipes are prone to corrosion, which can lead to cracks and pinhole leaks. However, even a small leak can lead to a water damage disaster. It’s been shown that a one-inch crack in a pipe can leak up to 250 gallons of water in a single day. What’s worse is that because a lot of your home’s plumbing pipes are concealed behind walls, you are unlikely to notice the leak until water damage or mold growth becomes visible.

4. Some types of water cause more problems than others.

Generally, homes suffer water damage from either rainwater, fresh water, gray water, or sewage. Fresh water comes from your homes water line and is supplied to your faucets. Gray water is dirty water, such as the water that comes from your dishwasher or washing machine, but it is not as hazardous as sewage. Sewage contains a plethora of harmful bacteria that can make humans and animals extremely sick. Water damage from sewage requires special restoration methods in order to make you home sanitary once again.

5. Attics are particularly prone to water damage.

Commons sources of water damage in attics are failing gutters or leaky roofs. It’s important to inspect your attic for signs of water damage on a regular basis and to consult a water damage professional for an inspection if any signs are discovered.

If you suspect that your home has water damage, contact the experts at GreenPro Cleaning & Restoration for an inspection as soon as possible: 631-940-8100.

3 Ways Weather Can Affect Your Crawlspace

Because many crawlspaces are not nearly as well protected, waterproofed, and insulated as the homes they sit underneath, weather can greatly affect their condition. Unfortunately, if a crawlspace is negatively affected by weather, it can then transfer those negative effects to the rest of your home.

Here are three of the ways that weather can negatively impact the condition of a crawlspace.

High Humidity

It’s easy for humidity to get trapped in your crawlspace if it lacks a proper source of ventilation. The warm air that’s holding all of that moisture rises toward your home, where it can start to permeate up through your floors and walls. This excess moisture can rot wood and drywall and cause black mold growth that can threaten your home’s structural integrity.

Rain

If rain ends up entering your crawlspace and pooling there, it can create some of the problems mentioned above, similar to high humidity. However, persistent puddles of water can lead to an additional problem that no homeowner or landlord wants: pests. Rodents and insects are drawn to damp places, and a wet crawlspace can provide these pests with the perfect hiding place.

Cold

Did you know that the cold air that enters your unfinished crawlspace will inevitably enter your home and make your home colder? This phenomenon, known as the “stack effect,” occurs whether you’ve insulated the floor above your crawlspace or not.

Here is how the stack effect works in a home:

• Warm air rises. In a home, warm air rises through the home’s attic (or whatever constitutes the top level of the home). That air can be pushed out through a number of sources: open or unsealed windows, small gaps, vents, etc.
• As the warm air rises out of your home, air from below (cooler air) moves in to take its place from your home’s lower levels, including the crawlspace.

Cold air and humidity aren’t the only things that can enter your home from the crawlspace. The air that rises up can also bring bad smells, dust mite feces, and mold spores with it. For this reason, it’s important to keep your crawlspace clean and free of excess moisture.