Attics are notorious for high humidity due to condensation and high heat, which can be a room and mood killer. This water damage can cause serious damage to the structure of the roof and can even promote mold growth in your otherwise lovely attic space – here’s how to deal with it step by step, coming from a professional.
Important steps towards attic water damage restoration
Water damage can cause some quite serious issues with the attic space, from making it smell funky, to requiring a full on water restoration. Most often, moisture issues in an attic are a good indication of a leaky roof or a badly ventilated space, which attics most often are – here’s what you can do to solve that issue.
Find where the leak is coming from
If the attic feels humid, there definitely is a leak and it can come from two main locations – the skylight and the roof. To identify the leak, you can look for darker spots on attic joists, wall paper or any other surface.
Moisture will find it difficult to dissipate in closed spaces like an attic, so you can easily identify where the airborne water content is most concentrated. This will show you where it is originating from – always check the skylight and do a visual inspection from the outside, but don’t climb on the roof as its pretty high up and you can seriously injure yourself.
Fix it – call a professional
Calling for professional help to remove the leak and fix the affected area is your second task. Call for a carpenter or a roofer who can inspect your attic space, he can also assist with finding the leaky part of the roof as he is equipped to climb on the roof and actually visually inspect the sub roofing, the bitumen roofing and to find the weak spots.
Dehumidify the attic
After the leak is dealt with and you know your house is water-sealed from, removing all of the humidity in the attic is your third concern. The first two steps are your primary concern, since they are the reason there is water damage in your attic in the first place.
Water damage can be removed in several ways, most include the full extraction of moisture from surface, which will greatly reduce the moisture contents of your attic. Using a dehumidifier is mandatory, however, there are rentable area dehumidifiers and air movers which you can use to extract all minute particulates of water from wood, subflooring, gyp board and any other affect surface.
Check for mold – air quality test
Since moisture, humidity and heat promote mold and mildew growth, it’s important to test the air contents of your attic for the presence of spores. There are services which provide quick lab tests of air samples taken from houses and attics, which determine whether or not there are large quantities of spores.
The truth is that there are a lot of spores in the air that you are currently breathing, 99% of it is harmless and has been around human kind ever since we came down from the trees. If the reading is higher than the normal spore count, then you have an active infestation and you need to call a mold and mildew removal and remediation company.
