How Do I Get Rid of Water from a Burst Pipe?

6/18/2020 (Permalink)

Water damage in your home? SERVPRO can make it "Like it never even happened."

SERVPRO Has Powerful Water Removal Extractors to Fix your Glen Cove Home.

What causes a pipe to burst?

Water pipes transport gallons of water through your Glen Cove home each day. These plumbing systems can age and perform less efficiently over the lifetime of your home, leading to buildup inside the pipes. Buildup blocks water flow, creating unwanted pressure in the system, which can cause the pipe itself to burst when combined with weak joints. The water pressure building up inside the joints can force water out of them rapidly, which can quickly lead to pooling water. In a matter of hours, your home can fill with several hundred gallons of water. Our technicians work in the local area and can arrive at your property promptly to remove water and mitigate losses. 

What happens to my home when a pipe bursts?

Sometimes the water pressure overall can dip, which has consequences to the rest of your plumbing system. Equally, the water that releases into the home can absorb into materials causing significant damages. To recover your house effectively, you can enlist the help of a water removal specialist in Glen Cove. SERVPRO operates twenty-four-hours a day and has experience working with the building materials unique to homes in the community. Our focus is to remove excessive quantities of moisture quickly before putting in place an efficient drying procedure that can help to mitigate against further losses like mold growth. 

What should I do when a pipe bursts in my home?

- Shutoff water mains to prevent further release of water. You can do this by accessing and turning off the main stopcock

- Contact your insurer to inform them of the situation

- Arrange for a service from a professional restorer to remove water intrusion in the home

How can I document damages caused by a burst pipe?

It can be challenging to assess the extent of damage to your home immediately after a burst. High-levels of standing water and material permeance are hidden factors that can only be evaluated once initial emergency mitigation is complete. In a typical home flooding scenario, we use electric submersible pumps with sufficient lift volume and power to transport standing water away from home and into an open sewer point. Once complete, the risk of structural collapse lessens, and we can spend time performing an inspection of damages noting the material construction of your home as well as the spread of moisture. We document all signs of damage during the initial scoping stage, which is recorded in a digital inventory ready to be passed on to your insurance adjuster. 

What kind of water extraction equipment do I need to remove water from my floors?

Water extraction varies depending on the requirements of your specific restoration. Semi-permeable floors like wood, tiles, or concrete can usually benefit from light-weight extraction wands. These are commonly known as wet/dry vacuums and can pass significant amounts of water by combining heat and suction. However, if your property is carpeted, we may need to use weighted extractors. Carpet fibers are very porous, absorbing lots of moisture. This moisture can be tough to remove from the inner layers of the carpet, mainly when thicker fibers are in use. Weighted extraction equipment exerts a downward force onto the carpet either through its construction or the technician's standing weight. By applying downward pressure to the rug, we can squeeze fibers and draw moisture to the surface for extraction.

Are carpets ruined after water damage?

The length of time between the event and the drying procedure is crucial in determining whether carpets are salvageable. Clean water can deteriorate over time as it mixes with other contaminants like microbial spores or dust in your indoor environment. In as little as seventy-two hours, a clean water emergency can degrade into a grey or black water contamination issue. With their porous fibers, wet carpets are ideal for spores to form mold colonies that can spread rapidly throughout a carpet. Equally, the presence of moisture can lead to delamination of the carpet. SERVPRO technicians have extensive training in carpet restoration. We can apply to condition or buffering techniques to ensure that carpets return to a preloss condition providing that water exposure time is kept low.

How Can I Restore Wet Carpets

- Precondition and thoroughly dry the carpet using extractors and dehumidification

- Inspect the mat and perform spot cleaning to remove any residual markings or visible damages 

- Use a rotary machine to buffer the fibers of the carpet and return it to its preloss condition

Burst pipes can occur at any time, and the longer the water remains, the higher the chance is of sustaining permanent damage to flooring or contents. Contact SERVPRO of Glen Cover / Jericho at (516) 671-1919 to arrange a call with our water restoration technicians (WRT).