Water Damage Restoration - Classifications

Classifications

Water damage is classified into one of the following classes:

• Class 1 Water Damage - Slow Evaporation Rate: Water losses that affect only part of a room or area, or losses with lower permeance/porosity materials (e.g., plywood, particle board, structural wood, VCT, concrete). Little or no wet carpet or padding is present. Minimum moisture is absorbed by materials, releasing moisture slowly.

• Class 2 Water Damage - Fast Evaporation Rate: Water losses that affect an entire room or carpet and cushion. Water has wicked up walls 12" - 24”. There is moisture remaining in structural materials (e.g., plywood, particleboard, structural wood, concrete).

• Class 3 Water Damage - Fastest Evaporation Rate: Water may have come from overhead. Ceilings, walls, insulation, carpet, cushion and sub-floor in the entire area are saturated.

• Class 4 Water Damage - Specialty Drying Situations: These consist of wet materials with very low permeance/porosity (hardwood, plaster, brick, concrete, stone). Typically, there are deep pockets of saturation, which requires very low specific humidity.