Can water damage affect the way the electricity works?

Most of the time, water damage shows up as stains, broken furniture, mould, and a musty smell. Less clear is what happens to your electric wiring after a flood. Even if your electrical wiring was only temporarily damaged, you may need to replace it to keep your home's electrical systems safe after flooding. 

Even though electrical wiring is insulated by Emergency Electrician Melbourne, water can still damage it to the point where it could spark and be dangerous to use. 

Does water damage kill the electrical wires in a house? 

Water damage can destroy your wires, but it's not always just the water. It's important to remember that a flood doesn't always mean that clean water is pouring into your home. Floods, especially those caused by natural disasters or storm surges, can have a lot of harmful things in them, like gas, oil, chemicals from agriculture, and even sewage. Even if the water itself is dangerous, the real problem might not be the water at all. 

Checking the electricity after flood damage 

Before you use any electrical items in your home after a flood, have a licenced electrician come do an electrical test. After a flood, electricians can do a number of tests to find exactly where your wiring is. So, even if your wiring passes the different safety checks, you should at least think about changing it in the affected area. This is because corrosion can get worse over time, making your wires less safe even if they work fine right after flooding. After looking at your home, a professional electrician can help you figure out what, if anything, you need to do to keep it safe. 

Do you need to fix the electrical wiring after a flood? 

Even if your cables were only wet for a short time, you will probably need to replace them. If there has been standing water in your home for a long time, there is a higher chance that the insulation on your wires will break down. 

How to Move Outlets Up on a Wall 

If your neighbourhood floods often, some homeowners raise their outlets above the normal flood level to keep water damage from happening. This is a great idea for your basement or other places that might flood more often. For the receptacle boxes, you need to cut new holes in your plasterboard and patch the old ones. Then, the wires are moved to the new spot, the outlets are connected correctly, and the system is tested by plugging something into it or using a multimeter. A job like this should only be done by electricians who have the right licences. 

It's also important to know that adding more outlets won't solve the problem completely. Even if your cables and outlets are raised during flooding, which can happen for many different reasons, they may still be damaged. Even if the water comes from above, like if a pipe bursts or a roof leaks, the damage can still happen. Since wiring that stays in a shared flood zone is still at risk, it needs to be raised to match the outlets that have been raised.