Restorative drying removes abnormal water from structures to "restore" materials to a normal condition. It prevents moisture damage, microorganism and soil contamination, odors, and loss of indoor air quality. When damage has already occurred, restorative drying combines with steps like cleaning, refinishing, removal and replacement. Most abnormal water comes from within the building. Potential for damage exists even when the water is relatively clean from burst pipes, faulty appliances, leaky waterbeds, or many other sources. Sources that are more contaminating include overflowed toilets, sewer backups, or river floods. The purpose of restorative drying is to decontaminate and dry materials efficiently. Except for easily movable items like furniture and contents, the aim is usually to dry them on-site rather than remove them. In some cases, restorative drying can even save saturated books and documents, hardwood floors, and soaked walls and ceilings. When remediating any loss that involves contamination, there are five basic components of the project that need to be considered.

First consider the category of the water - Category 1, Category 2, or Category 3.

Category 1 loss (clean water) originates from a source that does not pose substantial harm to humans. Category 1 losses may deteriorate in cleanliness as the water mixes with soils and other contaminants and as time elapses.

Category 2 loss (known as gray water) contains a significant level of contamination, has the potential to cause discomfort or sickness and contains or may contain: biocontaminants (fungi, bacteria, viruses, and/or algae), nutrients for biocontaminants, chemicals or physical hazards. The level of contamination can be significantly aggravated by temperature (warmer water deteriorates faster) and time (may change to Category 3 water if untreated for 48 hours).

Category 3 loss (known as black water) is grossly unsanitary and will contain pathogenic agents, sewage and other contaminated water sources.

As restorative drying contractors, our goal is to return the structure to equilibrium with the environment as quickly as possible without causing any additional damage. The keyword is "restorative." Restoration of carpet, pad, drywall and baseboard is one of the fastest changing areas in our industry. The evolution of less disruptive drying methods have enabled us to do more restoring and less reconstruction and replacement. The more we learn about the various materials in the homes we dry, the more we are able to prevent secondary damage from water contact. Instead of automatically replacing materials, we can cost-effectively dry them.

Airflow, airflow, airflow
The number one thing that increases the rate of evaporation from wet materials is airflow on wet materials, the more rapid the better. Of course, we also need to be able to handle the humidity created from this rapid rate of evaporation with a dehumidification system. Heat always helps, but there are practical considerations.

Remove the base trim
Removing the base trim to enhance evaporation has been used by our industry for several years.

Dry from the inside
Over the years, various methods and systems have been developed to dry wall assemblies. They all work if used properly and can speed up drying in many cases.

High-pressure inter-air drying systems were introduced to our industry a few years ago and are very popular. They use high-pressure blowers to either push air into a wall cavity or pull air out of a wall cavity. This creates a positive or negative air pressure inside the wall cavity. The energy from pressure generates air movement. However, it is important to remember: Pressure doesn't dry, air movement dries. The primary advantage of this type of system is the small holes that are necessary to insert the nozzles into the wall. You might consider not removing the base trim and actually inserting the nozzles in the wall above the baseboard. Your total repair may be less than if you removed the base trim.