CMS Restoration got a call recently about a water heater leak at a condo. This leak originated from the upstairs condo unit, and had affected the downstairs unit. This condo is located in a community with other units and houses being the same layouts. We had worked on several other condos in this community before with the same source. The upstairs unit did not have as much water damage as the unit downstairs, due to the way the water flowed and how quickly they caught it.
We worked with both units to get the work done, and to make sure that everyone gets dried out. Upstairs, we started with the demolition of the tile flooring in the water heater closet and in the hallway. Underneath the tile was a rubber backing, which is difficult to dry efficiently and to prevent mold from growing. Once we got the tile and the backing up, we set our drying equipment on the wet subfloor to start the drying process.
In the downstairs unit, we found wet ceiling in the bathroom and the adjacent closet. With our prior knowledge of the other unit we worked on previously, we knew that the ceiling had double drywall. Double drywall is also difficult to dry efficiently, and it is easy for mold to start growing. They had a small closet with shelving in the way. Fortunately we had a small guy that was able to sit on the top shelf and do all the ceiling demo from there. With all the ceiling demo done, we were able to get to the joists and dry them without any difficulty. From there, we handed it to our rebuild side to come look at it and start the process of putting the two condo units back together.
