The knowledgeable and certified professionals at SERVPRO of Crowley and South Johnson County know all too well how a water damage disaster can turn calm into chaos and solitude into stress. The frequency of water damage emergencies is staggering. Industry estimates are that 14,000 people in the US experience a water damage emergency at home or work each day. The costs are equally as staggering. Water damage and mold issues cost the insurance industry 2.5 billion dollars annually. The average expense of a home water damage insurance claim is thousands of dollars. Water damage emergencies are not only stressful, but they are also expensive. Efforts to prevent a water damage emergency are worth the peace of mind and the investment.
A garage door can be a source of water damage in the garage. This statement sounds like a contradiction, but it is true. The garage door is designed to protect the interior space from the elements such as rain, hail, high winds, snow, and sleet. Yet, garage doors, as impregnable as they may seem, can fail.
If a homeowner notices unwanted water in the garage and the evidence does not point to a roof or water leak, the garage door may be the source of the unwanted moisture. Here are three things that can go wrong with the garage door.
1. A panel on the garage door may become damaged
Single panel garage doors are uncommon. The typical garage door consists of three to five segmented panels linked together to form a solid door. Technically speaking, the door is not solid. The panels are designed and assembled in such a way that no gaps exist between the panels when the door is closed. As long as the door is functioning properly, it keeps out the elements.
Over time, a panel failure can occur. Usually, the bottom panel is the first panel to fail since it is subjected to rigorous stresses and excessive surface moisture. Damage can include cracking. Once this cracking has occurred, water can seep through the panel and into the garage. The solution is to repair the panel or to replace the entire door. The remedy may be as simple as some filler compound, sandpaper, and paint. As with any water leak, solving the problem at the source, the damaged panel, is crucial. Exposing portions of the garage to long-term exposure to water can lead to advanced secondary damage.
2. The weatherstripping Is deteriorated or damaged
Most garage doors have weather stripping consisting of a rubber flap running along the bottom of the garage door. Garage door installers recommend adding weather stripping along the sides and top of the door. A gap between the frame and the door allows moist air, rain, sleet, and snow to freely enter the garage. As the weather stripping ages, it loses its pliability and begins to crack and break, allowing the elements to invade the garage. The degraded weather stripping is no match for wind-driven rain.
3. Habitually failing to close the garage door, especially when the weather is terrible
According to the Cleburne Times-Review, Cleburne, TX, averages around thirty-eight inches of precipitation a year. In 2018, the area received well over fifty inches of rain, forty percent above the annual average, demonstrating that Cleburne, Crowley, and the greater South Johnson County area can experience heavy rainfall over an extended period of time.
Forgetting to close the garage door during bad weather can lead to a flooded garage, along with everything in it. Opening and closing the garage door every time an errand is run can be a time-consuming nuisance, but the effort to preserve the garage and its contents from water damage and mold infestation is worth it.
Tips to Prevent Water Damage in the Garage
- Repair broken door panels, including the floor seal on the bottom panel.
- Add weather stripping along the sides and top of the door.
- Adjust the landscaping to direct water away from the garage entrance, paying special attention to the slope of the yard.
- Add trench drains to capture and carry pooling water away from the garage.
- Pay attention to the gutters and downspouts. Keep the gutters clean so that the water can flow freely. Extend the downspouts to direct the water away from both the house and the garage.
- Resurfacing the garage floor is extreme and expensive, but if the floor slopes toward the house, the only recourse may be to change the grade so that any water that enters the garage immediately finds its way out.
What to Do if the Garage Is Flooded
If the water damage is severe, do not delay in contacting the team of water damage and mold remediation experts at SERVPRO of Crowley and South Johnson County. Water in the garage can present a major slip-and-fall hazard. Items stored in the garage can develop mold almost immediately, so waiting a day or two to call in the professionals could mean having to deal with advanced secondary water damage requiring mold remediation and more expensive reconstruction services.
Because the garage is often closed up, mold can take hold. When it does, the homeowner can track the mold spores throughout the rest of the home, increasing the extent of the water and mold damage disaster. For many people, the garage is a significant storage area. When a water damage disaster occurs, the stored items need immediate attention. Personal documents, business records, clothing, furniture, electronics, hobby equipment, tools, electronics, and keepsakes are often stored in the garage. Allowing these valuable items to soak in the moist, damp environment of a flooded garage is dangerous, unhealthy, and harmful for the items stored in the garage.
As a locally owned and operated business, the SERVPRO of Crowley and South Johnson County team lives and works in the community and is close by and ready to respond immediately when a home or garage needs water damage restoration and mold mitigation and remediation services. The SERVPRO pros clean, sanitize, disinfect, and deodorize the damaged area so it both looks and smells as good as new.
Service areas include Crowley, Cleburne, Joshua, Keene, Alvarado, Venus, Grandview, Godley, Rio Vista, Cresson, and Lillian. For more information about water damage restoration in Crowley, TX, contact the office by phone at (817) 297-8588 or by email at office@servprocrowley.com.
