Quick drying saves the day for newly constructed apartments
December 1st 2004

At 1100 hours on a wet dull day, a call came through from a major construction company to Water Out, a disaster response and property drying operation for help.

The construction company was on the verge of handover and overnight a hot water pipe from a combi-boiler on the top floor had burst causing boiling hot water to extensively and continuously flood a dozen 2/3 bedroom apartments on three floors.There were five days before the handover to new owners who would be out of a home and likely to be in a litigious mood if they could not move

The current stage was that the construction company has already ripped out the floor coverings and were on the verge of pulling out kitchen units, the dry lining, skirtings and insulation.They were told to stop and wait until Water Out had seen the damage.

Experienced flood technicians were dispatched onto the site within two hours, they quickly assessed then devised a drying plan that would cut downtime to the absolute minimum and save the dry lining, insulation and skirtings.The only damage to the kitchen units, which were to have been ripped out,was to the kickboards and end panels.

Works were then authorised.

Due to the temperature of the water, the worst affected apartments could have doubled as a sauna, the relative humidity (RH) at 100% and condensation and water running off all surfaces.The potential for secondary damage was increasing even more as the free water was finding its way into other apartments.

To save time, while temporary power was being provided, the excess free water was removed from the floors using Absorbeez, a simple but effective new product designed to absorb huge quantities of water.

Within minutes all the visible loose water had been removed.

Once the visible excess water was removed, some access points were cut into the ceilings in order to gain access to soaking wet insulation and ceiling framework which was slowly releasing trapped water.

Drylined walls were generally left intact apart from small holes drilled every 25cm to allow for the technician to place air hoses from a high volume air moving cavity wall drier. Skirtings were eased but not removed and small wedges placed to allow for air movement behind the skirtings. Kitchen kickboards and bath panels were removed.

In order to dry the apartments fast and without secondary damage from drying too quickly,Water Out, set up three of their drying units one for each floor affected.The process produces continuous air, conditioned to 230°F and 2%RH a desert would be around 120°F and 20%RH.The conditioned air which has an affinity to moisture was then ducted into the sealed target areas and immediately began to take up moisture and reduce relative humidity at an enormous rate; almost 90% faster than dehumidifiers would be capable of.A second duct, the extractor, controlled the humidity levels removing all condensation within hours,while ensuring no mould growth potential.

The conditioned air being placed into the apartments was assisted by cavity wall drying units which used the conditioned air to dry out wet insulation at the same time. Structural materials and the concrete screed were dried in equilibrium thereby ensuring no secondary damage from drying too quickly.

The drying process took and average of 2.8 days per apartment, leaving the construction company amazed and with considerably less than expected structural refurbishment and allowing them to keep their handover deadlines.

Drying with dehumidifiers, which would have taken several weeks and considerable ripping out and therefore increased the cost, could have been the alternative.

The entire drying process was monitored, recorded and verified using damp meters, carbide meters, data loggers and infrared thermography.

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