How Long Does It Take for Water Damage to Dry?

One of the most devastating things you can ever experience is not getting your water damage fixed after flooding or severe water damage in your house. Whether you're dealing with leaking appliances, broken pipes, or more serious problems such as flooded basements, sewer backups, or even water damage after a fire, they can all lead to major problems

In this article, we will take a closer look at the water damage and how long it takes to go away. 

What Is Water Damage?

Before we move on to how long it takes for water damage to go, let's first see what water damage actually is. Water damage can be defined as water damaging the interior of your house. It can be due to a number of reasons such as:

• Severe weather conditions, including hurricanes, thunderstorms, urban flooding, etc. 

• Leaking pipes

• Clogged gutters

• Washing machine water supply line leak 

• Condensation from air conditioning 

• Blocked drains 

• Leaking water heater

• Malfunctioning sprinkler systems 

How Long Does It Take for Water Damage to Go Away?

The amount of time it takes to repair water damage to your house varies. Multiple factors, such as the size of your house, the time it took to stop the leak, the building materials, the number of impacted areas, etc., will impact the restoration timeline. A small house damaged by a large amount of water might take longer to fix than a large house that only underwent minor water damage. 

It all depends on the specific situation you are facing. Nevertheless, you can use some general guidelines to estimate how long the repair process is going to take. Generally, it takes around 72 hours for any affected area to dry up completely, but this only applies on a room-to-room basis. 

Larger areas impacted by water damage take longer to dry. Regardless of what caused the water damage, you need to follow specific protocols to reinstate your house to its pre-damage state.  

How to Dry Out Water Damage?

Here are some steps you can take to reduce the time it takes for water damage to go away. 

1. Air Dry Your Home 

This is the easiest method you can use. You are going to speed up the drying process just by increasing the air circulation inside your house. The best way to do this is by opening the doors and windows in your house and allowing the wind to pass through the rooms. This is going to dry up the water more quickly and reduce the probability of permanent damage.  

Make sure to check the weather prediction before you open your doors and windows. The last thing you want is for a thunderstorm to blow through and ruin your progress. Humid weather conditions are also not suitable for this drying method and will just lengthen the whole process. Therefore, plan accordingly and ensure you take special care where possible. 

2. Use Drying Aids

If you cannot leave your windows and doors open, that's completely fine. There are several other drying aids that can quicken the water damage repair process. 

Keep in mind that these drying aids require additional safety precautions. For instance, you cannot use any electrical equipment near the water. Before plugging in anything, you need to inspect the area to make sure the water hasn't come into contact with any plugs or outlets. 

If you see that the electrical outlets have been damaged, you need to get in touch with a professional water damage repair company that can safely dry up the area for you.

3. Place a High-Powered Fan 

You can use high-powered fans to mitigate water damage. These fans aren't like your regular desk fan. Rather, they are going to dry up the area at a significantly higher rate than an automatic hand dryer in a public restroom. If the extent of water damage is low, you might even notice the water dry up within a few hours. 

4. Switch on a Dehumidifier

Even though using a dehumidifier won't speed up the drying process, it's going to facilitate creating an overall drier environment. With lower levels of moisture in the air, water is less likely to sit and soak into the room's furniture. Thus, the affected areas are going to dry more quickly than before. 

5. Clean the Carpets

When it comes to the carpets in your home, it's important that you use a carpet cleaning machine to remove all the water from your upholstery and carpets. This is going to prevent mildew and mold growth after water damage. 

Again, you can place high-powered fans in the rooms you wish to dry and switch them on for a couple of hours. This is going to quicken the carpet drying process. 

6. Heat the House

The warm air helps to dry things at a faster rate. Thus, as long as your air conditioning and furnace units aren't flooded, you can turn on the heat to speed up the drying rate. Nevertheless, bear in mind that warm air is going to hold more moisture. Thus, once you have reached a temperature (say 80 degrees), switch on the air conditioner to cool your home again. You can repeat this process until your house is dry. 

Last Few Words

Of course, drying out the water is only part of the battle when you are dealing with the aftermath of water damage. It is also extremely important to sanitize the area properly to prevent mold growth and remove any harmful bacteria and contaminants. This is something AdvantaClean of Fort Lauderdale can help you with. We use industrial-grade equipment and disinfectants to make sure every property or house we clean is restored to its pre-damage condition. 

If you need assistance in drying out your house after water damage, give us a call at (754) 216-4077. Our certified, trained restoration and cleaning professionals provide comprehensive water damage repair services and will help get your house back to normal in the shortest possible time.