The Process of Repairing Water Damaged Concrete Floor
After flood or other water damage disasters, drying out the house is essential. Everything has to be dried correctly: walls, ceilings, furniture, hardwood flooring, but also concrete floors. But, proper concrete flooring water damage repair introduces exceptional challenges.
When inexperienced contractors dry the walls and contents, concrete floors are often assumed to be dried. Folks then proceed to reestablish their space and include new flooring. Not too soon after, they start to have difficulties with the new floors and claim it’s defective. The real problem is probably that the concrete was not entirely dried when they laid the new flooring down.
Many builders are unaware of this and may create problems for their clients by failing to eliminate excess moisture from the concrete.
The Water-Based Adhesive Issue
A problem you can run into with concrete floor water damage is the fact that water-based adhesives won’t heal properly. As water-based adhesives have become more popular, this is now a bigger problem when dealing with restoration.
When the adhesive absorbs more moisture, then it cannot adhere to the floor properly. Since the adhesive fails to become repaired, it is going to soften and move. A sign this has happened is bubbles or blisters in certain flooring materials.
After employing tile, the glue may ooze or leak out over the edges of the joints or seams. People can think that the flooring material is faulty, but the real issue is that the concrete hasn’t been dried properly.
How professionals tender water-damaged concrete flooring
Successfully drying concrete after water damage demands the services of a professional restoration company. Just when professionals properly dry the concrete can you install new floor coverings.
Listed below are key tools and methods that professionals use:
- All these are either bubbles or boxes of plastic taped to the floor. By trapping the moisture released from the concrete in a little space, you can reach the right quantity of humidity faster.
- Thermo-hygrometers and non-evasive meters are all used to help determine if the concrete is hitting the ideal humidity. Because concrete is water-loving, this right humidity may frequently be in the upper 60s. Any reading below 72 percent is sufficient to install carpet or tile floors. Wood floors should have readings under 70%. If your flooring still needs more drying, that’s not an issue for a professional water damage restoration firm.
- Low grain refrigerant (LGR) dehumidifiers — those devices lower air temperature in the moisture-filled area, which aids the dehumidifier to remove more moisture from the air that moves.
- Additional drying can be achieved through air movement. Taking away the boundary layer from the surface of the concrete also facilitates drying.
Be aware that each of the respective trades associated with installing floor coverings has established installation standards. These criteria require the installer to ascertain that the subfloor (regardless of type) is in a satisfactory condition to permit proper installation of almost any floor covering.
In case you’ve experienced concrete flooring water damage at your house, it is important to get hold of restoration professionals, such as PuroClean Restoration Services. We’ve got the right tools to wash your home’s concrete floors correctly.
We’ll help minimize the loss to prevent additional harm. We will then provide restoration services to return the home to a pre-loss condition as quickly as possible. All PuroClean offices have qualified specialist technicians. They supply the most recent state-of-the-science solutions to all or any property damaged from fire, water removal, smoke, mold, and other disasters.
Find out the best way to protect your property from water damage and check out this guide on what to do after suffering water and storm damage.