How to Dry Out Water Damage
You just found water pooling on your floor. Or maybe there’s a soggy patch spreading across your ceiling. Your stomach just drops. Now what?
Take a breath. You can handle this. The key is to act now, because the clock’s already ticking. Mold can start growing in as little as 24 to 72 hours after water enters your home. On top of that, every hour your home stays wet, the damage gets worse.
You need to start water damage drying right away. While you can take some of the first steps on your own, you’ll want to call in a professional to dry the structural aspects of your home.
Key Takeaways
- If you have water in your home, begin water damage drying steps right away. Mold can begin growing within 24 to 72 hours.
- Start with the basics. Remove standing water, open windows for airflow, run a dehumidifier, and remove soaked materials.
- Drying off surfaces isn’t enough. Walls and floors can hold moisture deep inside.
- The timeline for drying water damage varies. While a small spill might dry in a few days, structural damage can take weeks to fully dry out.
- A professional water remediation service will use industrial equipment and moisture meters to ensure that your home is fully dry.
Why Drying Out Water Damage Quickly Matters
Spilled water doesn’t stay in the same place. It spreads and soaks into nearby materials. The same mechanics are true whether you knock a glass of orange juice off the counter, or a broken dishwasher sends water gushing across your kitchen floor.
Left untreated, moisture can lead to mold growth. Wood starts to rot, materials warp, and drywall weakens from the inside out. Which means the longer you wait to start drying out water damage, the bigger your repair bill could be.
The type of water involved matters, too. Clean water from a burst pipe is one thing, but dirty water from sewage backups or flooding from a massive storm can bring extra health risks, like bacteria and contaminants, into your home.
How to Dry Out Water Damage
If you catch a leak or puddle in your home early, and it’s limited to a small area, you may be able to dry out the water damage on your own. However, once water soaks into multiple rooms or sits for more than a day, you’ll do better to bring in the professionals.
Managing the drying process step by step:
Remove Standing Water First
As you can probably imagine, the first thing you want to do is get rid of the water. A wet vac works well for small puddles. For larger amounts of water, break out the mops and towels. Don’t use a regular household vacuum to remove water. It could damage the vacuum—or give you quite a shock.
Ventilate with Fans and Open Windows
Once you’ve dried up the standing water, get air moving through the space. Open your windows if the weather allows and point fans toward the wet area. Good airflow speeds up evaporation and helps stop moisture from settling into your walls and floors.
Run Dehumidifiers
Fans alone won’t pull moisture out of the air fast enough. A dehumidifier draws out excess humidity and keeps it from resettling on damp surfaces. For small spaces, a home unit might do the trick. For larger areas, you’ll need more powerful equipment that usually only comes from a professional team.
Remove Wet Materials
Some materials need to come out of your home for good. Carpet padding and insulation soak up water like a sponge and are almost impossible to fully dry. It’s usually better to throw them away so they don’t invite mold into your house.
If you have a small, contained spill, you may be able to handle these drying steps on your own. For anything bigger, you’ll want to call in a water damage remediation team that can bring in professional drying and dehumidification equipment.
What Professional Water Damage Drying Looks Like
Professional water damage drying goes beyond setting up a few fans and opening a window. First, a restoration technician will use a moisture meter to figure out exactly where the water went and how wet certain areas of your house are. Depending on your situation, they may also use thermal imaging cameras to find moisture hiding behind walls or under flooring, even when everything looks dry on the surface.
Once they’ve got a scope of the water damage in your home, they’ll bring out the big guns. Industrial air movers can push much more air across wet surfaces than your household fan can manage, while commercial dehumidifiers will pull moisture out of the air at a rate that keeps up with that airflow, instead of letting humidity build back up in the room.
When everything’s dry, that’s still not the end of the story. The next chapter is the water damage repair process where your remediation team gets your house back to normal.
How Long Does Water Damage Take to Dry?
When it comes to drying times after you’ve had an unwelcome flood or leak in your house, there’s no easy answer. Drying time depends on how much water got in, what it soaked into, and what drying equipment you can bring to bear on the problem.
Surface Drying (Hours to 1–2 Days)
Surface drying is the fastest part of the water damage drying process. Hard flooring, countertops, and other surfaces that don’t soak up water can often dry within hours to two days with good airflow and a dehumidifier.
Structural Drying (3 Days to Several Weeks)
Structural drying takes much longer. If water gets into walls, subfloors, and the framing of your home, the drying could take multiple days or even weeks depending on how deep the water traveled. The more porous the material, the longer the drying time. In some cases, as mentioned earlier, you might be better off throwing out hard-to-dry materials.
How Professionals Know When Drying Is Complete
You might be surprised to learn that you can’t always tell when drying is finished just by touch. Materials, like a floor or wall, can feel dry on the surface while still holding moisture inside. That’s why professionals use moisture mapping throughout your home to monitor the drying process and determine when to call a job done.
What Can Be Saved During the Drying Process?
It’s hard enough just dealing with water damage in your home. The idea of having to throw away valuable possessions is salt on the wound, but it can be necessary. Some materials hold on to moisture and bacteria no matter how much you try to dry them. Materials that stay damp on the inside can grow mold, which releases spores that can trigger allergies and breathing problems.
How to sort the contents of your home after a water misadventure:
Things You Can Usually Save
- Solid wood furniture and hardwood floors if you dry them quickly
- Tile, concrete, and other hard flooring
- Most clothing and washable fabrics
- Non-porous items, like glass, metal, and plastic
- Electronics, documents, and photos, though these often need specialized restoration techniques rather than simple air drying.
Things You Usually Need to Replace
- Wet carpet padding
- Soaked insulation
- Saturated drywall
- Particleboard or pressed wood furniture
Get Water Damage Drying Help From SERVPRO
The water damage drying steps in this article can get you started when you find puddles in your home. But if the water soaked into anything structural, your best option is always to call a professional water damage restoration team.
SERVPRO has over 55 years of experience in water remediation. Our technicians arrive fast, dry your home thoroughly, and can work with your insurance company.
Find your local SERVPRO today.
FAQs
How Do You Dry Out Water Damage?
Remove standing water first, then set up fans and open windows to improve airflow. Run a dehumidifier to pull moisture from the air, and remove any wet materials, like carpet padding or insulation, that can’t dry out on their own. For best results, call a water remediation professional to monitor the moisture levels in your home and ensure the drying is complete.
How Long Does It Take to Dry Out Water Damage?
Surface drying can take hours to two days, while drying structural materials often takes three days or more. Restoring a home after significant water damage can take one to two weeks overall.
Can You Dry Out Water Damage Yourself?
Most homeowners can handle small, contained spills with fans and a dehumidifier. But larger water damage, or anything that’s soaked into walls and floors, needs professional equipment to dry completely and prevent mold.
How Do You Know When Water Damage Is Completely Dry?
Materials can feel dry on the surface while still holding moisture inside. Professionals use moisture meters to test materials against a dry standard, confirming if an area is truly dry.