Moisture build up in the home can cause a great deal of damage and expense to you as a homeowner without you even realizing it. Your kitchen is an area of your home that deals with a great amount of water usage on a day to day basis, but most neglect to conduct any kind of regular maintenance checks to protect their homes against what can often be easily preventable moisture damage and expense.
Not only can moisture build-up be damaging to your home, but if a water leak is responsible for the moisture, this can slowly add tremendous amounts of money to your monthly water bill. We seek to provide you with a list of areas in your kitchen, along with key early warning signs of water-related problems, to help you prevent unnecessary cost and damage to your home and your valuables.
Areas like the kitchen sink and underneath the dishwasher are obvious sources of potential water damage, but it is also important to regularly check behind the refrigerator, beneath the cooking range and any exhaust fans and filters associated with these appliances. The following are some wise tips to maintaining these areas in your kitchen that are prone to moisture build up and water damage.
Preventing Moisture Damage in Your Kitchen:
- Check underneath your appliances to make sure there is no moisture build up or presence of mold. Either of these can be a sign of a leak that will need to be located and repaired promptly.
- Do not allow any drips from faucets or piping to continue. This will be a source of potentially serious water damage and can also increase your water bill over time unnecessarily.
- Watch for any indication of back up or overflow from your sink or dishwasher as this is the warning sign for a clogged drain line. Clean these drain lines regularly.
- Check to see if there are any gaps in between the water pipes associated with your appliances and the walls they penetrate through. If gaps are present, fill them with the appropriate caulk, foam or sealant.
- Regularly inspect exhaust fans, range filters and refrigerator coils for dust build up and mold as this affects the efficiency of these appliances and may prevent proper air flow, leading to moisture build up.