Water Damage

Water Damage Restoration In Real Estate

There are many opportunities for ambitious and enterprising individuals in real estate, if you are willing to learn about water damage restoration. Many great properties are overlooked because of the damage, yet the solution is often rather simple.

One developer has used basic, common sense to improve the grade and drainage on many properties which had suffered from flooded cellars. By eliminating the source of the water damage he was able to restore the interior and have some very pleasant properties to rent or resell.

In one case, the entire parking area was actually 12 inches higher than the cellar, and, as a consequence, the house was chronically flooded. The entire cellar had mold and mildew, making it a very undesirable property. That nasty, musty basement smell was everywhere.

He was able to buy the house for a very low price, rent it out for several years, and later make a tidy profit. Once you learn how to get rid of mold and mildew, waterproof basement walls, repair ceiling and carpet damage, you will have more houses than you can imagine.

Learn about restoration and prevention

By adding fill dirt with a back hoe and grading the parking area, he was able to change the drainage and save the house from further damage. One easy to use technique is to use a chalk line and level to determine the grade of the lot.

This simple method works well and requires no expertise or special equipment. Water flows downhill, so all you need to do is keep adding fill until the level is tipped away from the house sufficiently.

Stretch the chalk line across the parking area and line the long plumbers level along the chalk line. Once this is done you need to ensure that the water has an escape route so it can continue draining.

Another way to change the elevation of a parking area or driveway is to use cement or blacktop. By changing the elevation using the above method and adding the surface treatment, such as blacktop, you can be sure of a permanent solution.

Sometimes this approach leads to other solutions for the property, such as adding retaining walls or steps in areas that should have already been managed.

These simple, but very effective approaches can be done by the home owner, provided there is a willingness to do the dirty work. For more complicated projects that require heavy equipment, such as a back hoe, you will need to hire an operator, unless you can rent one and operate it on your own.

Are you willing?

Many real estate bargains exist for the entrepreneur willing to take the time and do the work to deal with water damage restoration. These properties are usually shunned by the casual investor because they are unattractive and appear somewhat beyond hope.

Of course, once the water drainage problem is fixed, you can begin the next task of restoring the interior. The good news is that the cause of the water damage problem is eliminated and you should be able to develop the property and have a very pleasant house.