If your home were damaged during a recent flood, then taking immediate steps to rectify the situation would be necessary. A flood will damage your belongings, affect the structural integrity of your home, and cause other water and humidity-associated problems, such as mold growth. We need expertise for Flood cleaning in Montreal, to prevent these problems by using advanced equipment, while dehumidifying your home.
Let us provide you with some insight into how this procedure is carried out regarding the:
- Benefits of using the dehumidification process
- Main techniques which are used
- Other questions relating to dehumidification procedures
Use of Dehumidification in Flood Cleaning
Dehumidification, as the name suggests, is a process where dehumidifiers are used for extracting excess moisture and humidity out of the air. It is an effective procedure that expedites the drying process, and prevents further damage to things present inside the home.
Different Dehumidification Methods
There are different methods that our experts use, based on the state of your home.
These include:
- Air conditioning, where total pressure is increased or air is compressed, to achieve dehumidification.
- Desiccant dehumidification, where a desiccant material is used to remove excess moisture from air.
- Refrigerative dehumidification, is also known as mechanical dehumidification, and in this method, air is cooled so as to condense water vapor, and get rid of excess humidity in a room.
Out of these methods, desiccant dehumidification is the most preferred method, due to its higher energy efficiency. It is also a technique that performs well both in low, as well as high humidity levels.
How Does Dehumidification Work?
In desiccant dehumidification, the air is dried using desiccant material, which is an adsorbent that has a natural affinity towards water. The desiccant material used in the process, is capable of taking up moisture released by air. As such, when an airstream passes through the dehumidification equipment, it becomes dry without requiring extensive compression, cooling, or similar other complex processes. After drying finishes, desiccant material is dried during the regeneration process, with the help of hot air, and it becomes ready to start drying more humid air.
How Long Should a Dehumidifier Run For?
The time period for which the dehumidifier is to be operated, largely depends on the severity of the water damage. Our water damage cleaning experts will closely analyze the situation, and provide you with an estimate of how long it would take to remediate the situation. Let us look at a few important factors to determine how much time it would take to rectify the situation.
Size of the Area: The larger the affected area, the longer it will take to carry out the dehumidification process. However, we have the required capability to run several dehumidifiers together, to expedite the process. Our experts also ensure the area where dehumidification is being carried out, which remains a closed area, in order to achieve maximum efficiency.
Level of Humidity: Another factor that dictates the amount of time it would require to dehumidify a particular room, is the level of humidity in that room. If some rooms have been affected more by flooding than others, then such rooms would require more time. Moreover, the dehumidification process would require more time during the summer months, compared to the winter months, due to the fact that there is more humidity in the air throughout summer.
Nature of Damage: Lesser damage will be experienced in case flooding affected walls and linoleum or concrete floors, due to the fact that such materials tend to be less absorbent. But, if flood waters reach your drywall, carpet, wooden materials, or wooden furniture, then dehumidifiers are to be operated for a longer duration.
Additionally, our team ensures that dehumidifiers are operated until all the porous surfaces become completely dry. Additionally, insulation and plaster take much higher time to dry up, and if the water damage is too severe for these materials, then our team will suggest that these should ideally be replaced. Our team also continually monitors the progress, and the humidity level that they have been able to reach, using equipment such as a moisture meter. This helps them ensure that work is progressing the right way.
Desiccant Dehumidifiers
The main benefit of desiccant dehumidifiers, is that they are capable of lowering relative humidity (RH) in a room to the required levels. For instance, a desiccant dehumidifier is able to bring down RH levels to around 4%, and sustain the same at a room temperature of about 70OF.
Desiccant dehumidifiers prove to be an ideal option when there are complex assemblies that are to be dried. Such assemblies include voids, varied materials like dense (such as hardwood flooring, lath walls, etc.) and semi-porous materials.
These dehumidifiers are also beneficial due to the fact that these are available in varied configurations and sizes. In addition, depending upon the requirement, we are able to install them in different ways. A few of the installation options include:
- If the location where water damage happened is inaccessible, then we can setup dehumidification as outside re-circulation.
- If it is a small room, then an outside exchange installation process is used.
- If the room is such that the dehumidifier can be installed inside the room, then installation is performed as an inside exchange.
As we can see, it is quite necessary to start flood cleaning work as early as possible, so as to prevent further damage to your home. We have the required expertise, equipment, and experience, to carry out this complex work. We will ensure that everything is restored to how it was before the flooding incident.
Simply get in touch with us via our customer support number, and our specialized team will visit your home, evaluate the extent of damage, and start the process on an urgent basis. Our team will ensure that humidity levels are brought down to the required levels, mold growth is prevented, and your belongings are completely dried to their pre-loss state. Call us immediately if it is an emergency, and we will do everything possible to reduce the extent of the damage, water causes to your home!