Why You Should Avoid DIY Water Damage Restoration

4 min read

Thanks to the abundance of do-it-yourself (DIY) guides and YouTube tutorials out there, more homeowners are opting to handle simple repairs on their own. While there’s nothing wrong with fixing minor problems following DIY guides, water damage restoration is an entirely different issue that’s best left to the experts.

Performing water damage repair work on your own may seem like the easier and more cost-effective way to get your home back in order. However, it pays to remember that things can still go wrong with do-it-yourself water damage cleanup – it can even worsen the situation and end up more costly in the long run.

Here are just some of the many reasons to steer clear of the DIY route when repairing water damage in your home:

Addressing Water Damage Requires Swift, Urgent Action

Water damage only needs at least 48 hours to start peeling off paint from your walls, cause your wood flooring to swell, and even begin causing health problems. You may also find your furniture, appliances, and other valuables damaged beyond repair during this time.

Saving and restoring any item affected by water requires swift and urgent action. However, with your work, business, or other engagements waiting for you, you likely do not have enough time to devote yourself to the cleanup and restoration project – and get the job done immediately.

Professional Equipment is Needed

Extracting water from a flooded house and drying the structure requires commercial-grade equipment. This means that while shop vacs, hairdryers, and other tools readily accessible to you can help in the drying process, they can only do so much. And even if you do get your hands on advanced equipment, knowing how to use them properly is still necessary to completely dry the water inside your home.

On the other hand, professional water damage restoration companies are armed with modern equipment such as pumps, extraction units, air movers, moisture sensors, and structural cavity drying systems, among many others. These tools can make all the difference in drying your property and minimizing losses.

The DIY Approach Can Be Time-Consuming

Repairing water damage is both time-sensitive and time-intensive, and it involves more than just using buckets and mops to remove standing water from the affected areas. To prevent further complications months down the road, all the water needs to be cleaned up thoroughly and correctly the first time. This is an endeavor that must not be taken lightly.

The Process Can Be Dangerous

There are safety risks present in water damage repair and restoration work, with the three most common dangers being:

• Injuries from unstable structures. The longer the water sits inside a property, the higher the risk of the building’s structural integrity becoming compromised.
• Diseases from exposure to contaminated water. Water from a flood, sewage backup, or toilet overflow can contain harmful microorganisms such as viruses and bacteria, and exposure to these can make any person ill.
• Electrocution. A flooded environment always presents possibilities for electric shocks to occur.

Taking on any water remediation or restoration project without care, proper safety measures and the right protective equipment can lead to significant injuries and diseases.

It Can Be Tricky To Determine the Extent of the Damage

Understanding the extent of the damage is the trickiest part about restoring properties after a flood or plumbing breakdown. While you may be able to remove standing water from floors and other surfaces, it helps to remember that materials like wood, carpet, drywall, and insulation can easily absorb and hold water.

Failing to determine how much these structures have been affected can worsen your water damage and, ultimately, trigger microbial growth and other secondary issues.

Professional Water Damage Restoration Is the Way To Go

Performing water damage cleanup and restoration yourself may seem like the best way to get your home back to normal while keeping your expenses low. But in reality, there are so many things that can go wrong in a DIY restoration project, and these mistakes can lead to additional property damage, worse structural issues, and further problems like mold.

Ultimately, with a busy schedule, taking on an entire water damage cleanup and repair project alone can cause unnecessary stress and fatigue.

Save yourself from the hassle, disruption, and extra costs that come with DIY water damage repair – let Restoration 1 of Austin handle everything for you.

Our IICRC-certified company follows industry best practices for water extraction, drying, and restoration, so you can sit back knowing the work will be done correctly the first time. Contact us at (512) 222-6183 to get expert help.