How Water Damages Masonry in Seal Beach Homes

12/11/2019 (Permalink)

Did you know that water damages stone, brick, and concrete? SERVPRO has the knowledge and equipment to restore your masonry.

Why SERVPRO Dries Out Concrete and Brick when Mitigating Water Damage in Seal Beach Houses 

After an incident involving water overflowing a tub or sink, a broken pipe, or a torn roof, water can end up in places throughout your Seal Beach residence. Water vapor's ability to move around in the air means cooler locations collect droplets of moisture. Brick, concrete, and stone fall into this category. These hard substances contain pores that tightly retain any absorbed water.  

These challenging materials are why SERVPRO makes sure these building materials become dry in our Seal Beach homes with water damage. Other materials dry comparatively quickly, often not requiring us to raise interior temperatures. Generating an airflow and running desiccant machines is often not sufficient to completely dry out denser materials. 

Before we begin, we check to see if any paint or other types of sealant cover these materials. Because these keep moisture from passing through effortlessly, we may need to drill tiny weep holes into the lowest portion of any walls made of brick. Such holes let any water out through the bottom, which is where we direct intense air currents. Moisture always travels to drier locations, so these air currents gradually pull the moisture down, and eventually out of, the wall. Our desiccant machine takes care of the rest. 

When unsealed walls made of brick, concrete, or mortared stone contain added moisture, we can dry these more directly. While they do take longer than other materials, we also monitor these specialty drying situations so our customers understand the issues involved. 

Another reason why SERVPRO technicians want to ensure complete dryness of such materials is to help prevent microbial growth in these areas. Although these materials contain much less, if any, cellulose, microbes can feed on any accumulated dust and other microscopic particles. As they live and grow on damp surfaces, many microbes cause deterioration to happen at an accelerated pace. Removing the water also prevents this problem, including any spreading that might have happened otherwise. 

One of our goals at SERVPRO of Seal Beach / Los Alamitos / Cypress is helping protect our customers' property from future problems with water damage. Call (562) 431-9400 to talk to us about specialists near your residence in Compton, Los Alamitos, or Surfside who can help get your home dry after a disaster involving water. 

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