Tricky Water Damage Issues In Your Historic Omaha Home

5/18/2021 (Permalink)

SERVPRO of Omaha Northwest has experience restoring and preserving older homes no matter how the water damage occurred.

SERVPRO Helps Preserve Priceless Historical Structures

Older homes are the preference of many people including you and your family. Beautiful polished wood and original lathe and plaster walls give warmth and elegance modern materials can try to match while rarely succeeding. It is sometimes hard to give up modern conveniences when dealing with century-old plumbing, no matter how quaint, so you have rigged up a DIY shower in an upstairs bathroom, originally outfitted only with a huge bathtub. All seems to be going well, but you occasionally notice a musty smell in your bedroom, located next to the bathroom. One day after your morning shower you walk into the dining room downstairs and are surprised to feel a wetness on the hardwood floor. You look down and see that in addition to the dampness, the recently refinished honey oak hardwood floor is a bit darkened and cupping, the planks curving up and pulling away from each other in a two-foot line about six inches across. This degradation has been happening for awhile, you immediately realize.

When you look up a drop of water splashes onto your face. The high ceilings in this room were recently repainted with a stain blocking compound, covering decades of wear. You notice a swelling in the ceiling along with a two or three-foot line directly above the area of hardwood floor that is damp and wavy. There is no discoloration, yet, so you had not noticed this before. Your first impulse must be to get on the phone to our SERVPRO water damage professionals as soon as possible as you see evidence of the strange way water damage can manifest itself inside your stately Omaha home.
 
Not all severe water damage issues occur only after a harsh storm or rising flood waters. Sometimes it as insidious as old plumbing and worn caulk being pushed beyond their limits to keep water where you want it. Before you drive yourself mad trying to figure out a solution, invite us at SERVPRO to investigate the problem. Our technicians are highly qualified and continuously trained on the ways water flows, seeps, or trickles into your home. We will evaluate the situation and discover where the water was dripping through the ceiling. When we find the dried out caulk that allowed water to seep through the tile joint with the heritage tub, or the backflow through the diverter you installed to power the handheld shower head, we will give you options for repairing the situation. Then once we are confident the leak or seepage is resolved, we will dry out the wooden substructure between your bathroom and bedroom. This remediation action against mold is for household safety and to erase the musty smell. The ceiling will be dried and restored as will the flooring, which may need sanding or even replacement of a plank or two if the cupping is severe.
 
Do not despair when your historic home shows signs of water damage. Call SERVPRO of Omaha Northwest at (402) 800-2134 instead, relying on our track record in restoring and preserving older homes no matter how the water damage occurred.