While any type of water damage is serious and requires immediate attention for cleanup and restoration, local Sonoma County professional restoration specialists assess and officially categorize water damage.

In accordance with Institute of Inspection, Cleaning and Restoration Certification standards, there are three different types or categories of water damage.

Category I – Clean Water Damage

Category 1 water damage is the least destructive according to the standards.

Clean water means that the water is free of contaminants, toxins and sewage. It includes cleanup for water damage cause by broken water lines, leaky water pipes, an overflow of rainwater or a clean yet overflowing toilet.

For this type of water damage, professionals find it the easiest to clean, dry and restore without long-term or serious consequences for the homeowner, provided that the cleanup takes place within 48 hours from the incident.

If cleanup is postponed, category 1 water damage can change to a category 2 fairly quickly.

Category 2 – Grey Water Damage

The next category moves up the damage scale.

Grey water indicates that the damage is caused primarily by malfunctioning appliances like sump pumps, toilets or washing machines.

While more water and some mild chemicals like laundry soap may be involved, it still does not contain anything which poses immediate harm to residents.

Although there are not serious health threats, there may still be a level of mild to serious contamination with grey water damage.

The biggest problem with grey water damage is that if left unclean or not disinfected quickly, the potential for untreated waste, mold or mildew to set in, grow and cause further problems for homeowners in the future.

Category 3 – Black Water Damage

As you can probably guess, category 3 water damage is the most toxic and dangerous of all.

Because it contains toxins, active viruses and bacteria, the danger of spreading disease and illness is high.

Immediate cleanup, drying and disinfecting should take place to prevent damage to the owner’s health, property and home structure.

Black water damage is produced by natural floods, swelling ground water or sewage.

Swift action includes damaged property removal for deep cleaning and complete drying, followed by an intense disinfection protocol.

Conclusion

Regardless of the category of your water damage, call in the professionals at RCS in Santa Rosa.

Our experienced and certified professionals quickly carry out restoration procedures so you can return to a clean, healthy and safe home.