Most Common Causes of Water Damage in the Home

8/17/2017 (Permalink)

Flat Roofs

A flat roof, in theory, should be just as ‘good’ as a sloped roof but when things start going wrong, it can create a host of new problems that others just don’t.

Normally, in order to work properly, a flat roof should have a slight gradient to it. In other words, despite the name, flat roofs are not normally actually flat. A flat roof then is very slightly convex and that’s how it is able to gradually cause water to run off of it and into your gutters.

Gutters

Another common culprit when it comes to the causes of water damage is the gutter system. Normally, your gutters have the job of directing water away from your roof and away from your building more generally as it runs off the edges. This will work fine though until the gutters become blocked with debris such as leaves and branches and thus another dam forms.

Now the water will begin to overflow over the edges of the gutters and thus start running down the side of the house. You can spot this by looking at the paint on your walls – are there dirty water marks from rainwater that’s flooded out of the gutters?

Leaking Pipes

If you have a leaking pipe then this can often lead to destructive water damage in your home without your even being aware. The problem here is that the water can leak in a loft or under your floor boards and might just be a very subtle dripping. Thus it never gets extensive enough for you to notice but you nevertheless have constant dampness which leads to water damage and black mold.