Georgia, and Atlanta in particular, gets a lot of rain. While the United States gets an average of 38 inches of rain per year, Atlanta averages 52 inches of rain each year. While we get more rain, we also get more sunny days– 217 sunny days per year compared to the U.S average of 205 sunny days. This means when it rains here, it pours.
All of this heavy rain can mean one thing for homeowners and small business owners: potential flooding or other kinds of water damage. What happens when your home or building is affected by water?
Here are some helpful ways to deal with flooding and heavy rain, because as we all know, some water; good, lots of water; bad.
What Water Damage Can Do
Atlanta is no stranger to heavy rains. Just between January 1 and February 20, 2020, Central Georgia saw 11.56 inches of rain or enough rainfall to fill 2,842,546 Olympic-sized swimming pools! Which is why Northside Tool Rental is here to help you dry out after heavy rains.
Flood water and leaking water can have all kinds of effects on your home or business. It can cause loose floorboards, mold, damage to your appliances, and the structure of your home, as well as electrical damage and more.
Left unchecked, flooding damage can end up being pretty costly, which is why it’s important to take care of standing water quickly after heavy rainfall to protect your home and your family. Just 6 inches of water might end up costing over $50,000 in damage!
Removing the Water
One of the most important things you can do after water creeps into your home after heavy rains is to get the water out as quickly as possible. Flooding can greatly affect your indoor air quality, which can be particularly harmful to those with asthma or allergies. For this reason, it’s a good idea to wear a protective mask as you remove water from your home.
How can you get rid of the water? First you’ll need thousands of those tiny paper cups and plenty of free time…actually, scratch that. For smaller water leaks or minor flooding, you can remove the water using a wet-dry industrial vacuum. These are perfect for a small amount of standing water. It’s larger and more durable than the wet-dry shop vac you may find in your garage and has a sizable receptacle to soak up more water.
If you have larger amounts of water standing in your home or business, you should consider using a pump to remove the water. What kinds of pumps can you choose from, and how do they differ?
- 3-inch gas-powered diaphragm pump: This pump is designed to run dry, making it ideal for areas of low seepage. It can handle viscosities that are thicker than water, making it a great option to use for muddy moisture and has self-cleaning properties to reduce clogging.
- Electric 2-inch submersible pump: This pump works in at least 2 inches of standing water, and can also be used to pump out silty, sandy water, and water containing other solids and debris with minimal clogging.
- 3-inch gas-powered trash pump: Trash pumps are designed to pump more than just water, so like the electric 2-inch submersible pump, this pump can handle solids, debris, and the murkiest of standing water.
- 3-inch gas-powered diaphragm pump: Diaphragm pumps like this one are built to run dry, and use negative pressure to draw moisture through the pump and out of your space. It’s usable for thicker-than-water viscosities.
Drying Things Out
Once all of the water has been removed, your drywall and carpets can still feel pretty soggy. If you hear a squishing sound when you walk around, you probably still have an issue, duh. Flooding and water damage can spark harmful mold growth within your carpet and on the flooring below. Warm, dark, moist, and humid environments are the perfect place for mold to grow, and this mold can trigger symptoms for people with hay fever, asthma, or other allergies.
How can you expedite the drying process to keep water damage to a minimum? You need the right tools to keep moisture from affecting your home’s interior, and you need to dry out your floors as quickly as possible.
Carpet fans are a great tool for drying out your flooring. Unlike other fans, which circulate air throughout the entire space, carpet fans push concentrated amounts of air directly at ground level, which means their energy is solely focused on drying out your wet flooring.
You may also want to consider renting a dehumidifier. At Northside Tool Rental, we have industrial-grade dehumidifiers for full-building dehumidification. They’re incredibly helpful in closed spaces like basements and crawl spaces, and can potentially reduce the overall damage caused by water. For a major house flood, this may be one of the first steps in the process to recover your home, but it’s crucial to remove excess moisture before you begin any additional work to keep mold spores at bay.
At Northside Tool Rental we have the tools and the expertise you need to dry out after a heavy storm, and we’re here to help. Contact us today to find out more about how we can help you after a bout of heavy rain.