Professional water-damage restoration is a complicated business, requiring a careful, scientific approach with frequent monitoring of relative humidity, temperature, and moisture readings of contents and structures. Under-drying may encourage mold growth, while over-drying can cause problems such as the cracking of wood.
Approximately 1.2 million homes are affected by water damage each year, resulting in billions of dollars of insurance claims. Some property owners, however, are reluctant to file claims due to a sharp rise in insurance premiums. Structural drying technology can reduce the severity of, and prevent further damage from, water losses, whether or not claims are filed.
Adjusters may feel that every restoration job should take four days because the furniture, carpet, pad, flooring, and walls dried in four days on their last jobs. It just doesn't work like that, however. How long a job takes depends on how wet the contents and air have become, and on the relative humidity and temperature during the drying process. Constant monitoring of specific measurements is required to determine when the contents and structure are dry. Jobs are dry when they are dry; no rule of thumb exists in terms of a time line.
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