The PuroClean Blog

The Advanced Drying Techniques Used by Restoration Professionals

After a flood, it is highly important to remove the water from the flooded structure and contents as soon as possible. In the past, limited technology was not only slow, but resulted in removing and discarding damaged carpets, pads and drywalls. Thanks to today’s powerful equipment, professional disaster restoration companies can completely restore water damaged properties and contents to their pre-loss condition with minimal intrusion or disruption.

The benefits of the advanced drying techniques include:

  1. 1. LGR Dehumidifiers can reduce the relative humidity to as low as 10%, removing up to 16 gallons of water from the air per day. Older dehumidifiers were able to reduce the humidity to only 40%, removing about 5 gallons of water per day.
  2. 2. Drying is much faster – 24 to 48 hours with modern equipment, as opposed to 4 or more days with older equipment.
  3. 3. Thanks to faster drying, mould and other fungi are less likely to develop. The health problems associated with mould are alleviated.
  4. 4. The irreversible swelling in porous materials, such as wood and drywall, is prevented.
  5. 5. Using desiccants, which release very dry and warm air (5% relative humidity and 40ºC) into humid areas, helps eliminate moisture. Silica gel is also used to absorb humidity from the air.
  6. 6. Intra-wall drying helps the drying process inside of walls without removing drywall. Air is forced into cavities behind walls through drilled holes, greatly reducing the drying time of the wall.
  7. 7. With powerful extraction techniques, water can be extracted from the pad, through the carpet, leaving the underlying pad slightly moist but not wet.

Completely drying water-damaged properties and contents requires the advanced tools and techniques used by professionals such as PuroClean. In the unfortunate event of a flood, don’t hesitate to call a certified restoration company.

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