Water Damage Prevention Tips

The kitchen and the bathroom are two of the most important rooms in your home and if you are conscious about what makes a home valuable, then you probably understand that these are also the two rooms that can add to or subtract from your home's value the most easily. The conditions of the bathroom and kitchen are extremely important when you go to sell your home.

These two rooms are often what make or break the sale of a home. When selling a commercial building, the kitchen is typically not a factor because most do not have them and even though all commercial buildings have bathrooms of some kind, the bathroom does not usually affect the sale. The presence of a bathroom is usually enough in these buildings.

You should do whatever you can to maintain the structural integrity of these two rooms even if you do not plan on selling your home. An unfortunate event may occur and you may have to sell your home to pay for it; in life, not much is ever certain.

How do you prevent water damage to these two rooms? Keep an eye on the plumbing in both rooms, for one. Under the sinks are pipes that can sometimes begin to leak or burst completely and sometimes the vinyl on our kitchen floor or the tile on our bathroom floor is not sealed completely. This allows water underneath and will soak your floor boards. Mold can start to grow as a result of this.

The overflowing of bath tubs and kitchen sinks is also a mildly common occurrence. Maybe you forgot the water was running or you just got pre-occupied talking on the phone, but the fact is that you can leave yourself in a mess pretty quickly. Clean up the water as quickly as you can.

Install a steam vent or fan in the kitchen and bathroom if possible. This will let the steam that comes from cooking dinner or taking a bath escape the room and not cling to your ceiling. Drywall absorbs water quite well and unfortunately, mold also will start to grow on your ceiling if this steam damage continues. Installing a vent in the ceiling will possibly be one of the best investments that you can make for both of these rooms.

Also keep a check on the water line that connects to the ice maker in your refrigerator, if you have one. Water leaks from these are not uncommon and ice that melts due to a power outage can also cause water damage, especially if you are not home to take care of the spill.