Is a Musty Smell a Sign of Water Damage?
If you are detecting a musty smell in your house, you might wonder if it it’s water damage. A musty smell in your home almost always means that your house isn’t managing moisture properly in some way. If you don’t deal with the excess moisture in a timely fashion, it will cause water damage. The longer it’s left, the worse the damage will be, so if you are currently detecting a musty smell in your home, now is the time to act. The effects of water damage extend beyond a bad smell. They can include significant dangers to your home, including rotting and structural weakness.
If you have water damage in your home, it’s important to track the water back to its source and eliminate all the damage, especially if this includes rotting structural supports. Because of the potential damage to the structural integrity of your home, it’s important to work with a damage restoration professional who can complete all repairs.
Other Signs of Water Damage
A musty smell is a good sign of water damage to be aware of because you can detect it throughout the building. However, it’s often hard to track down the exact source of the smell. Other signs of water damage can help you confirm that you have it and identify the source of water. Look for:
- Peeling paint or wallpaper – Water in your walls can cause paint or wallpaper to detach from the wall, making it bubble up or peel.
- Discoloration – When water gets into drywall or plaster, it can cause discoloration, which is often described as water stains. This will start at the source of the water and expand outward. Depending on how fast water is leaking, the stain may stop growing even if water continues to leak.
- Bubbling and sagging – Bubbling in the texture of the drywall or plaster often occurs when you have water damage. The bubbling might be in the paint or the plaster itself. Ceilings are more likely to sag, but walls can sag, too, if there’s a lot of water.
- Mold – Mold spores are everywhere, waiting for an excess of water to allow them to bloom. When this happens, mold can grow rapidly. Look for splotchy or even floral dark patterns on the wall, ceiling, or other surface.
Just because you don’t see these other signs of water damage, it doesn’t mean that you don’t have water damage. Instead, it might mean that the water is trapped behind the wall or ceiling. To further confirm the presence of water when you notice a musty smell, you can use a moisture meter to test whether the walls are wet where the smell is strongest. If you don’t have a moisture meter, push a nail through the wall. Then you can smell the hole and see if the musty smell increased. You can also push a cotton swab through the hole and move it around inside to see if it comes out wet or dry.
Note that water might be trapped in a single wall void bordered by studs or joists, so make sure you test multiple areas.
Potential Sources of Water
Once you have detected excess water in your home, it’s important to determine where the water is coming from. Here are some common sources of excess water in the home:
- Leaky roof – If your roof leaks badly, you might notice water flowing when you have a big rainstorm. However, a small leak might allow water to infiltrate slowly into the house, saturating the structural supports and drywall before you see or smell any sign of it.
- Poor flashing – Flashing is the seal around your windows. If you notice water damage around one or more windows, you will need to repair the flashing.
- Leaky pipes – Indoor plumbing is an amazing convenience, but when it fails, it can be devastating to the house. A burst pipe can dramatically flood your home, but a small, dripping leak might go unnoticed for a long time, causing extensive hidden damage.
- Drainage from AC – When air conditioning cools your home, it also dehumidifies the air by condensing water on the cooling coils. This condensed water is supposed to drain out of the unit safely away from your home. However, a poorly designed or clogged drain can lead to a buildup of moisture around and below the unit.
- Backed up drains – You might think the drains in your house are running fine, but often there is a master drain in the house that may not be draining as well as you think. Instead, water might bubble up and accumulate in a hidden area.
- Foundation infiltration – Sometimes water or excess moisture can seep through your foundation. This might be actual water, or it could be humid air that seeps in, leading to excess moisture in the basement or crawl space.
Tracking down the source of the moisture should be accomplished before attempting any repairs.
RestorePro Can Help with Water Damage
If you have a musty smell in your house that you think is water damage, let RestorePro help. We have over 30 years’ experience in the restoration industry helping people across the Southeast, including North Carolina, South Carolina, and Tennessee. We offer 24/7 emergency response services, so we can be out as soon as you contact us about the water damage. Then, we’ll get right to work so you won’t have to live with the water damage any longer.
RestorePro can handle every step of the restoration process. This includes tracking down the source of water, repairing it, and then repairing all the water damage. You don’t have to call a plumber or roofer, then have a carpenter out or a sheetrock professional. We can do it all, with such great results that you won’t be able to tell where the damage was. That’s how meticulous and advanced our process is.
We can also coordinate with your insurance company. Not all water damage is covered, but our process of documenting both the damage and the repairs will help you get quick and complete compensation for any repairs covered under the terms of your insurance policy.
To learn more about how RestorePro can help you eliminate water damage from your home, please contact us today. We have offices throughout North Carolina, South Carolina, and Tennessee.
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