Water Damage Assessment & Inspection in Vancouver

Kitsilano plaster can look dull and still be wet on the lath side. We pin the wood where a blister gives us a spot, and we scan the rest of the wall in a grid. Hastings-Sunrise houses with the same plaster and fir get that same reading. Fir floors get a scan before anyone talks about sanding or lifting.

Photos show the meter, the blister, and the room, not a close-up with no context. The moisture map names plaster, lath, or board, because those dry on different clocks. A slow supply leak and a roof drip at the chimney are different categories. We write which one the inlet supports.

East Vancouver still has combined sewers on a lot of the old grid. When rain piles up, dirty water rises at the floor drain, or it climbs out of the laundry standpipe. We photograph the drain, the waterline, and the sink. The category stays dirty water until the inlet says otherwise.

The meter walks the bottom plate, the slab, and the stair if water climbed. A thermal camera helps when the gypsum looks even. The moisture map lists every room that still reads high for you.

Marpole lane garages take water off the lane when the block is low. We meter the slab at the door, then two metres in, then at the house wall if the garage is attached. The outside photo shows the lane grade and where the water sat.

If the water crossed the threshold, the moisture map continues into the room it entered. Mud on the slab is a clue to surface water. A clean supply line inside the garage is a different category, and we only write that if the hose or the bib is actually the source. The map keeps those inlets apart.

Dunbar character houses often sit on a post-and-beam floor over a dirt crawl. Mount Pleasant fir floors hide the same kind of cavity. We scan the floor from the room, then we open the hatch and pin the joists, the sill, and any pier that shows a tide line. Bins get shifted if they are sitting on the wet bay.

The pin numbers are the record. Photos show the soil, the vapour barrier if there is one, and the wet wood. The moisture map is a sketch of bays, because a single room average hides the wet corner. Downtown concrete is another page: a ceiling grid and the suite above.