If you go more than three days without water the consequences could be dire, but your home doesn’t like being hydrated nearly as much.
Whether your home is attacked by coastal weather or a plumbing disaster, water damage can seriously ruin your home’s health. Oftentimes, homeowners don’t even know how to spot the most common type of damage in their homes, and even fewer know what to do when they see it.
Cracked or splitting wood is one of the most obvious signs of water damaged wood. While this could be caused by some damage source other than water, any wood that is visibly degraded could have water damage. Consider looking for any possible water sources near the wood such as plumbing, or you may just be suffering from the curse of coastal weather. If your home’s exterior wood is cracking like this, then it could just be the result of natural moisture being brought in from the surrounding area, but you should still seek to fix the damaged wood.
One easy way to spot water damaged wood is if the paint on top of it is damaged. Oftentimes homeowners will start a repair suspecting that only the paint is water damaged, only to find that the wood underneath is far more damaged. Cracking, bubbling, or peeling paint can be a sign that the substrate beneath it is damaged, and it usually leads to more expensive repairs. If you see degradation like this the worst possible response would be to just paint over the damage, as you are just sealing in whatever water has already begun to damage your wood.
Perhaps the most noticeable and worrying sign of water damaged wood is the presence of rot or mold. If you notice any sort of fungal growth on your home get a professional appraisal, as neither black mold or dry rot put the fun in fungus. If you get black mold you are putting your health at risk, and dry rot puts your home’s health at risk because of the instability it can cause. Either way, any sort of unwelcome growth on your house’s wood is an immediate cause for concern. You can prevent mold and rot from growing by eliminating the source of the water damage before it can get ahold of your home, or protecting exterior wood features from the elements.
