When left untreated, flood water can create cracks in a building’s foundation that will be expensive and time-consuming to repair. According to Mac White, Vice President of Greenpoint Restoration, a water damage repair company in Charlotte, North Carolina, flooding is known for creating erosion in the soil that can easily undermine the footing of a residential or commercial property.
During intense floods, especially those caused by overflowing rivers and extreme rains, the soil outside a residence can become extremely saturated with water. This saturation, in turn, can cause the foundation to settle or swell and ultimately crack.
In situations where people’s homes are located on top of clay soil—which is somewhat common in the Charlotte, North Carolina area—White says that ground swelling is common. Clay soil is very expansive, and when that soil absorbs the moisture, it will inevitably swell. What that can do, then, is heave the foundation and heave the footing, thereby causing problems that could potentially be expensive to repair.
On the other side of the coin, White says that once those flood waters recede, the clay soil will oftentimes shrink back down again. That will cause the foundation to settle back once again, which can create problems as well.
Although flood water can damage a home’s foundation, White says that people should be far more concerned about what the flood water is doing to the materials inside the home. Drywall, especially, can become extensively damaged during a flood.
The most important thing that any water damage repair company can do is to get to its client’s home as quickly as possible. Being able to treat and disinfect the surfaces within a home in a timely manner is critical if the homeowner wants to be able to keep the home intact without having to remove and replace many interior elements.
If a person’s home has been flooded by water that is contaminated with fecal matter, which includes water from nearby creeks and streams, then a water damage company will need to get rid of the water and disinfect the house with an antimicrobial agent. White says that his company’s primary concern with flood waters is to get rid of the presence of bacteria within the home, along with any viruses hiding in the walls. Doing so is the best and only way to fully protect the homeowners once they eventually return to the property.