Water Damage Restoration To Your Garden Shed: Choosing Repair Over Replacement

When you have an old wooden garden shed, you know it is susceptible to the elements and to pests. If you do not keep up on maintaining this shed, it may suffer some water damage. Depending on the severity of the water damage, you have two options. Either you can restore and repair it, or you can tear it down, throw it away and replace it. If you choose to restore and repair your wooden garden shed, here is how you should do it.

Consult with a Water Damage Restoration Expert

Sure, the shed is not your home, but that does not mean that a water damage restoration expert cannot help you. He or she can look at the damage on your shed and sum up the extent of the damage. It may even be worth it to see how much the damage might cost you via a quote, especially if your shed is insulated and has finished walls on the inside. The itemized summary of the damage and a repair quote are both useful as a jump-off point for repairs too, since they will list the supplies you will need to make the repairs.

Choose to Do the Job Yourself or Hire a General Contractor

If you choose to repair your shed yourself, the quote and summary from the water damage expert tells you exactly what you need to pick up from the home improvement or hardware store. This project would probably take a lazy weekend to complete, but it would save on the expense of a general contractor. Otherwise, you could ask a few general contractors what they would charge to do the work, and then hire the one that can complete it for the least amount of money.

If You Choose to Hire a Contractor

Finally, if you choose to hire a contractor (either type-general or water damage restoration), consider elevating your shed a little bit. A shed that is regularly exposed to standing water may be below sea level or on a flood plain, as it were, and that is why it suffered the damage it did. Picking up the entire wooden shed and dropping it on a high concrete slab may help deter future water damage and preserve your shed's repairs against an influx of water. Since you already have the contractor there, it may be a worthwhile option to investigate, and the cost would not be that much more.

For more information and help, contact a water damage restoration company, such as East Coast Environmental Restoration.