The Science Of Drying

Building Drying

When is a building drying complete?

The British Damage Management Association, BDMA, defines building drying as complete when:
1. The internal conditions of the property are at, or better than normal room conditions.
2. The moisture on and in the building materials themselves will not support active growth of toxic mould (mold), mould (mold) and mildew as a result of the incident of flood damage that has most recently occurred.
3. The building materials and contents will return to equilibrium with normal room conditions by themselves, without further damage.

It is important to us that we give our customers a definite outcome from our building drying process. When the flood damage incident has been dried to British Damage Management Association (BDMA) standards then Richfords issue a Completion of Drying certificate for each building drying project. This certificate identifies the outcome of the building drying and indicates pre-existing conditions that we have noted. It helps ensure that there are no misunderstandings about the outcome of building drying.

Building drying needs energy

Water, as it evaporates, absorbs heat, cooling the material it evaporates from.

Two important points to remember are that evaporation inevitably cools the material that loses the water and that the rate of evaporation reduces as the temperature falls. In a laboratory it is possible to evaporate water so quickly from a brick that the water still contained in it freezes and evaporation comes to a virtual halt until the brick warms up again. It is not uncommon on walking into a recently finished new building to find that it is noticeably cooler than the air outside. This is the result of the materials drying out.

The heat energy taken to evaporate five litres of water is at least 3.6kw for one hour.

Richfords are equipped with new super heating dehumidifiers which can rapidly carry out building drying by replacing the heat loss through evaporation.

What we need to consider when setting up a building drying program

• Can the building be sealed?
• Is the building's heating and/or air
conditioning system available?
• What is the condition of the property's electrical system?
• What types of material are being dried?
• How long were the materials under water?
• What was the depth of water saturation?
• What type of equipment can be used in this property for
the drying process?
• What are the outside weather conditions?
• What is the attitude and level of cooperation of the insured
and building occupants?
• What is the responsiveness of the insurance representative
and/or property manager?
• What is the overall condition of the fabric of the property?
• Is the property at risk of re-flooding?
• Is there any trapped interstitial moisture - moisture trapped
in insulated floors and walls etc?