Preventing Water Damage In Your Garage

10/19/2017 (Permalink)

The interior of a person’s home is not the only place that is vulnerable to water damage. Garages, for example, often sustain just as much, if not more damage than a homeowner’s basement, living room, or kitchen. In fact, many homeowners use their garages for storing boxes of personal items and family heirlooms that would be difficult, if not impossible to replace. To ensure that your home, including your garage, sustains as little damage as possible in the event of a flood or leak, please contact an experienced water damage repair restoration contractor who can mitigate the damage and immediately begin the restoration process.

Preventive Tips

It is in a homeowner’s best interest to take certain steps to avoid water damage to their home and property. For instance, to prevent your garage from flooding, you may want to consider:

• Placing weatherstripping, such as self-adhesive tape or rubber stripping, around your garage door to help maintain the temperature in your garage and prevent water from seeping under the door. Weatherstripping needs to be replaced regularly, so make sure to check yours for cracks or other signs of deterioration.
• Checking for foundational cracks or other evidence of damage. Even minor cracks can allow water to seep into a garage and from the garage into the home itself. If you find any cracks, be sure to seal them with a vinyl concrete patch or waterproof paint. Large problems will need to be fixed by a professional.
• Improving drainage in the area around your home by installing drains in front of your garage or along the driveway. This can be instrumental in transporting water away from your foundation.
• Placing sandbags and other flood barriers around your property. These barriers expand when they come into contact with water and can help low-level flooding from spreading into your garage and home.

In some cases, no amount of preventive measures can save a garage from being flooded. In these cases, it may be in your best interest to install a flood vent, which will allow flood-water to flow through the garage itself. While this will help protect the interior of your home, it will also allow the garage to flood, which can result in a significant amount of damage. If you want to take this route, be sure to remove any important and valuable items from your garage and contact a professional who can assess and repair the damage.

Water damage can have devastating consequences for homeowners who may have to replace all of their possessions. However, the earlier a person addresses a flood by seeking professional aid, the less damage his or her property is likely to suffer. To speak with a member of our dedicated restoration team, please contact SERVPRO of Oldham/Shelby at 502.241.6861. You can also reach us by sending us your contact information and a brief message. We realize that disasters can occur at any time and so make ourselves available to you 24 hours a day, seven days a week.