Water damage can ruin hardwood floors, destroy drywall, and lead to severe mold problems. While these situations can have significant long-term ramifications for your home, you shouldn't ignore the impact of water on your possessions. Furniture is an expensive investment, and water damage can degrade its appearance or even lead to rot and permanent damage.
After any water damage event, you'll need to evaluate many areas of your home, including its contents. In many cases, you may be able to repair or restore water-damaged furniture, but you'll often need to recognize the problem and act quickly. Understanding how to evaluate the items in your home can help you get through this process as efficiently as possible.
1. Investigating Water Damaged Areas
Whether your home was impacted by flooding from a storm or a significant plumbing event, the process for evaluation is the same. Once you can enter the area safely, you should check for apparent signs of damage on everything from your walls to your carpet to your furniture. If any items are still sitting in water, move them to higher (or drier) ground, if possible.
Remember that water tends to follow the path of least resistance, and it can travel a surprisingly long distance. For severe flooding situations, water may leak through floorboards or drip into adjacent rooms. You will need a restoration expert to perform a complete evaluation, so you should focus on finding areas where the damage is easy to see.
While you generally want to move items out of standing water when possible, you may want to avoid moving furniture that's been wet for some time. Water can compromise joints and impact the stability of your furniture, so attempting to move it may cause more damage. In these cases, dry the area as best you can and contact a restoration specialist immediately.
2. Restoring Water Damaged Furniture
If your home contains valuable furniture or treasured heirlooms, you shouldn't assume that water damage will permanently ruin them. Professionals can often repair damaged furniture, including fixtures such as kitchen cabinets. Depending on the damage severity, they may be able to fix them on-site, or they may have to move your furniture to a dedicated workshop.
In extreme cases, it may be necessary to reinforce structural issues by using additional fasteners. You will also often have to replace waterlogged upholstery to prevent mold growth, but a restoration specialist can work with you to find an exact match for the original piece. More minor issues may only require some sanding and refinishing to restore the furniture's original appearance.
As with most forms of water damage, quick evaluation is critical to saving your furniture. The sooner you recognize the damage, the sooner you can rely on an expert to get your furniture back to like-new condition. Contact water damage services to learn more.
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