WATER REMOVAL CAIRNS, PLASTERBOARD OR GYPROCK WATER DAMAGE; When you suffer a flood water emergency at home (Cairns plasterboard water damage), it’s porous property infrastructure and contents that are some of the most at risk materials and objects of water damage and ruin. PLASTERBOARD is one such porous building material that is very venerable to Cairns water damage.
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For almost a hundred years, since the 1930s PLASTERBOARD (also known as Gyprock, Gypsum Board or DRYWALL (in the United States), has become one of the world’s most widely used building materials and the preferred choice for interior walls, space-dividing partitioning (non-load-bearing walls), and ceiling cladding. Plasterboard is fast and easy to install, has multi-purpose applications, making it an attractive construction material and an affordable option.
Today, most homes and commercial buildings in Australia would have plasterboard interior walls and ceiling cladding. Made from Calcium Sulfate Dihydrate, it’s the same plaster material often used to make plaster-casts (orthopaedics cast or body cast), for encasing injured limbs or body parts, in medical settings. Medical plaster-casts are commonly used to effectively support, stabilise or immobilise anatomical structures; or for the repositioning of broken bones until they are sufficiently healed.
If you have ever been unfortunate enough to have worn a plaster-cast, you would surely have been told the importance of NOT GETTING IT WET! The same applies to plasterboard used in construction. Whether used for medical reasons or construction (plaster-casts or plasterboards), all types of gypsum plasterboard are VERY POROUS and will absorb water much like a bath-sponge. When plasterboard is subject to moisture or water damage, it will distort and deteriorate rapidly, leading to serious damage or ruin if not dried-out very quickly.
THE GOOD; The PLASTERBOARD panels found in Australian homes and commercial buildings is made of an inner layer of hardened gypsum-plaster, that is dried and sandwiched between two thick sheets of heavy paper (finishing facer-paper and backer-paper). Plasterboard being made with gypsum is naturally fire-resistant. The level of protection against fire can be increased with thicker sheets or multiple sheets.
THE NOT-SO GOOD; The PLASTERBOARD panels found in Australian homes and buildings is highly vulnerable to moisture and water damage. Given time and once moisture levels reach a certain point, the boards will rapidly deteriorate, warp and become a very effective substrate for MOULD GOWTH,
As advantages as plasterboard is to the Australian building and renovation industry (economical building material, ease of installation and having multi-purpose applications), regular plasterboard does have a KRYPTONITE. The plasterboard panels commonly used for wall linings, internal walls and ceiling cladding in Australian property are very POROUS. All properties are at risk of internal or external flooding or water damage; and plasterboard is unfortunately one of the most at-risk building materials.
If a Cairns property is subjected to flooding or a Cairns water emergency, plasterboards are often at risk of both primary and secondary water damage. Burst water pipes in the roof space or walls are common reasons for wet and water damaged plasterboard walls. Leaking and damaged roofs can cause massive water damage to plasterboard ceiling cladding.
Gyprock-plasterboard panels can absorb large amounts of moisture once they come into contact with water, due to a Cairns water emergency. The gypsum boards will behave much in the same way as a sponge does on contact with liquid (especially unpainted, internal facing boards). They will such in large amounts of water, quickly causing discolouration and sagging. Once wet, plasterboard becomes the perfect breeding ground and ideal substrate for developing unhealthy and even dangerous bacteria and mould growth.
It is the very porous nature of drywall plasterboards that can cause them to deteriorate rapidly once they come into contact with water; and become the perfect hosts for bacteria and mould growth. Harmful bacteria and moulds can be treated and removed from non-porous property surfaces. Porous, unprotected plasterboards allow mould-spores to developed both on the visible surface (exterior) and inside the boards on vast unseen internal surface areas (this is why painted plasterboard walls will peel and bubble if not thoroughly dried after being exposed to water or flooding).
TIP; Plasterboards are common places for property mould growth, even without a Cairns water emergency or Cairns flood event. It’s the porous nature and cellulose content of plasterboards that gives this building material great insulation properties. The same reason why it’s a great host for mould growth.
An effective way to help protect plasterboards from harmful mould growth, is to paint BOTH sides of the boards, before installation. This will help protect plasterboard walling and ceiling cladding from water damage and mould growth, not only in the event of a water emergency, but also from moisture risks due to high humidity.
HOW TO REPAIR WATER DAMAGED PLASTERBOARDS;
The very reason mould can so effectively grow on and in plasterboards, is the very reason it’s hard to clean and eradicate. The tiny pores in the porous plasterboards make for excellent breeding and colonising inhabitants for mould growth. To physically CLEAN plasterboards of mould, you would effectively have to DESTROY them, to get to the mould inside of the material. This makes it very difficult to clean-up mould growth (and prevent possible mould related health hazards), in the same way that you might clean it off your bathroom tiles.
Mould is part of the fungi family of organisms, that also include mushrooms and yeast (mushrooms are the familiar face of fungi). Mould grows and reproduces at its best in damp, poorly ventilated areas (plasterboard is perfect if it gets wet). Mould does not require sunlight to flourish (same goes for mushrooms). In fact, direct sunlight can be effective in killing mould and inhibiting mould spore development. It’s the ultraviolet radiation in sunlight that damages the cellular functions of the living mould/mildew fungi organisms, preventing reproduction.
SIDENOTE; Solar UV radiation is our most significant source of UV radiation; however, the sterilising power of solar ultraviolet radiation is also harnessed in the form of artificial UV sterilising systems, designed to clean, sterilise or control pathogens, bacteria, mould/fungi and yeast on surfaces. Such UV light devices have long been used in hospital or healthcare settings and the food processing and water treatment industry.
The problem with sunlight being the solution to eradicate mould (natural or artificial), is that because mould does not require sunlight to colonise, it normally develops in areas that get no direct sunlight or very little light at all (like plasterboards). So, it is often impossible to eradicate mould using sunlight for the most part, especially with porous building materials like gyprock plasterboards.
So, mould, unlike the plants we like to decorate our homes with does not require sunlight to develop and grow. Plants are photosynthetic, sunlight is required for photosynthesis to occur and necessary for them to generate energy and flourish (put a house plant in a closet and it will die), mould feels right at home in a closet or any other location void of light; mould thrives in dark and moist environments.
However, MOULD and HOUSE PLANTS both have something very important in common. They both need WATER to survive. If the water source is removed MOULD, like house plants will die.
If mould is allowed to develop unchecked in our homes (like it will after a water emergency), it can quickly become a health hazard for occupants. As the number of airborne mould spores increases, the greater the potential for allergic reactions and serious respiratory problems.
Property floods and water emergencies can quickly result in the growth of the microscopic fungi, we call MOULD. If the water is not removed fast, the water will produce humidity and in a very short period of time moulds will develop on seen and unseen surfaces. Porous surfaces like PLASTERBOARDS are at prime risk to mould growth (you cannot physically clean the mould forming inside the plasterboards).
Because mould prefers porous materials, that are poorly ventilated and out of the reach of sunlight, you will often smell mould before you see it. If you can smell it, you are already inhaling the potentially harmful mould spores. Mould is potentially dangerous to ALL property occupants, including pets. The more time that we (and animals), are exposed to mould spores, the more likely that we will suffer some form of adverse reaction.
EcoPro Cairns Plasterboard Damage Cleaning 24/7 for Cairns Wet Ceiling Drying, Cairns Wet Carpet Drying, Cairns Wet Floor Drying, Cairns Wet Wall Drying & Cairns Emergency Flood Water Damage Restoration & Cairns Water Drying Services from just $395.00 – 24 HOUR SERVICE – Includes Moisture Testing, Thermal Image Mapping and Fast Cairns Water Extraction Service – 60 Minutes Response Times for all Cairns suburbs – Choose from Direct Insurance Billing or Best Insurance Pay-out Guarantee – DON’T DELAY CALL NOW ON: 0451 160 460 (24/7)
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