It's a fact of life that water damage only gets worse with time. Imagine your home as a bunch of dominos that are being stacked together to form a pattern. Each part of your home is painstakingly put together in order to fit the whole just like the domino pattern. Now imagine water damage as the dust of wind or the inadvertent nudge that sets all the dominoes falling in a row. Water damage can creep up on you slowly or it can all happen at once but if left unattended water damage will grow worse and worse.

Let us use the example of a bathroom sink. Let's say that the pipe behind the sink bursts and floods the wall behind it. This is an example of immediate water damage. The damage will become noticeable as the water starts to seem onto the floor through the walls. But what if the pipe does not burst but rather starts to leak slowly? In this case the water damage will become progressively worse over time and you are much less likely to notice it right away. This can lead to rotting of the wood, mold development, foul smells and the destruction and other parts of the house as the water seeps further into your home.

Building quality has a lot to do with how well a house will hold up over time but regular preventative maintenance on your part has a lot more to do with it. If you regularly inspect your house for signs of water damage you will be much more likely to detect it and be able to prevent it before it gets worse.