How To: Dry Out Your Structure After a Water Damage in 10 Steps.

When there is water in your rental unit the goal is to dry everything ASAP! You are probably thinking duh! Well, now I will tell you how to dry as fast as possible:

1. Extract all water from carpet and pad, and for even faster dry times pull back the carpet and remove the pad. If you remove the pad a shop vac or other non-commercial wet vacuum may be enough.
2. check the walls with a moisture meter, if they are much more than 20% saturated then remove the base boards. Depending on the material they can be saved for reuse. You can start the first day by popping them out 1-2 inches.
3. Check Relative Humidity Levels. They should be below 40% RH by day two if possible.
4. If the walls are saturated at near 100% consider a 2ft cut to remove the drywall that is wet. We always cut in 2ft increments as it makes put-back cheaper and easier.
5. Place low voltage air movers and Low Grain Dehumidifiers in the space. You should have at least one air mover floating the carpet. and others moving air over every effected surface. Dehumidifiers are more complicated.
6. Find the AHAM rating for the dehumidifier.
7. Next determine the cubic footage of your affected area (this is any area that is connected to the problem area and cannot be closed off behind a door. If you are not familiar with this calculation take the floor area (width x length) multiply it by the height of the ceiling. If there are multiple ceiling heights perform 2 (or more as needed) calculations and add them together. Sometimes Trigonometry can be used in special room configuration situations or a conservative estimate can be used.
8. The formula: Divide Cubic Footage of Affected Area by the Class Divisor (see chart below) = Pints of Dehumidification required divide by the Pints Per Day AHAM Rating I told you to find in step 5 to get the Number of Units Required for the job.
9. Wait 24 hours and then Check Humidity again and walls and other structures. Make changes in air movement and dehumidification as needed and repeat every 24 hours as needed until dry.
10. If this is all too much for you to consider, then consult with your local water damage professional in your city.

• Divisor              Class 1              Class 2               Class 3               Class 4
• LGR                 100                    50                       40                       50

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• Disclaimer: This is a basic list of steps for informational purposes, it might be altered by a professional onsite. There can be more complexities and steps required depending on the situation.