The Importance of Hiring Professionals to Clean Up and Restore Water Damage in School Athletic Facilities

3/11/2022 (Permalink)

Blog Summary: SERVPRO of Carrollton highlights the importance of having a highly trained, professional water damage cleanup company to remediate a water-damaged gym at a school.

SERVPRO of Carrollton is the water damage mold cleanup specialist in Richardson, TX, and surrounding areas that is able to handle a water intrusion involving a wooden gym court. A typical gym may have several courts with as many as twenty to forty thousand square feet under the roof. When the scope of a disaster is enormous and cleanup and restoration services are needed in a hurry, trust the professionals at SERVPRO of Carrollton for water damage, mold removal, and fire and smoke damage cleanup and restoration.

A wooden gym floor in pristine condition is both an athletic venue and a beautiful work of art. A water intrusion, if not immediately addressed by a skilled team of water damage cleanup specialists, can negatively impact the safety and beauty of a wood court. The polished surface can lose its luster and grip. The flat, smooth floor may develop ridges and peaks that compromise the safety of the venue. The unevenness can cause trip-and-fall injuries. In the heat of competition, athletes may receive abrasions and bruises when making contact with the ridges and peaks in the uneven, water-damaged flooring. The removal of bulk water and remaining moisture is crucial to preserve the integrity of the finish and to prevent the individual wooden slats from  warping.

Common Causes of Water Damage on a Wooden Gym Floor

A wooden basketball or volleyball court is composed of thousands of individual pieces of interlocking wooden slats. Each seam is a potential water intrusion leak point. Wet mopping introduces an excessive amount of water that can seep through cracks and gaps, collecting on the undersides of the flooring where it can cause water damage, including warping, wood rot, and mold. Not only is surface water a danger to a wooden gym floor, but sustained levels of high humidity can affect the wooden structure.

Other causes of water intrusion include:

• Burst water pipes
• Roof leaks around vents, fans, and skylights
• Severe weather that overwhelms the roof’s drainage system
• Localized surface flooding
• Sump pump failure
• Sewage backups
• Storm damage to the roof

What Are the Effects of Water Damage?

Excessive and prolonged exposure to moisture can lead to cupping and crowning as the wood absorbs the water and expands and contracts. The wood will not return to its original size.

Mold growth often appears when a water intrusion occurs on a hardwood gym floor. Wood, an organic material, is a favorite of mold, which can weaken the structural integrity of a wood floor if the mold infestation is not immediately remediated.

What Should Be the Initial Response to Water Damage?

Time is the enemy when a water intrusion occurs on a wooden court. The longer the wood absorbs the moisture or water, the greater the risk that the floor may not be salvageable. However, a minor spill that is immediately dried with a mop or towels or suctioned up with a shop vac poses little threat to the floor.

When a water intrusion is ignored or goes unnoticed, moisture is absorbed by the wood, seeps through the seams, and accumulates under the flooring. The result can be a very costly large-scale water damage disaster.

The first step is to stop the water intrusion at the source. Bulk water should be immediately removed. What appears to be a small amount of water in shallow puddles around the gym floor can, in reality, be hundreds of gallons of water. Efforts to remove the water with a shop vacuum could take many hours, and the delay in removing the water could ruin the floor. A professional water damage restoration company with truck-mounted pumps and a vacuum system can swiftly remove the bulk water, minimizing or preventing any damage to the floor. The remaining moisture can be removed with special equipment and applied structural drying techniques. Failure to deal with the water intrusion as prescribed in a floor warranty may invalidate the agreement. Unnecessary delays or neglect to resolve a water intrusion or moisture issue could affect insurance claim payouts.

The size, construction materials, and structural complexity of a wood gym floor require the knowledge, experience, skill, and equipment only professional water damage restoration professionals can provide. Facility managers, athletic directors, and administrators must realize that a water damage disaster involving a wooden gym floor is not a DIY project for staff, teachers, and students. Failure to appropriately address such a disaster could end up costing hundreds of thousands of dollars.

When a water damage disaster occurs at a gym, fitness center, or rehab center involving a wooden court or activity space, every minute of delay accelerates the progress of the damage. A call to SERVPRO of Carrollton activates a team of technicians who arrive in less than an hour and are fully equipped to handle any size or type of disaster, including a water intrusion on a wooden gym floor.

To learn more about SERVPRO of Carrollton’s water damage restoration and mold cleanup services, contact the team by phone at (972) 446-0383 or by email at office@SERVPRO10952.com