Carpet Tack Strips: Determining the Duration of a Water Loss

Carpet tack strips offer an excellent tool to interpret the occurrence and duration of a water loss. Water losses are among the most common claims in the United States. When a water loss occurs in a carpeted home, the carpet tack strips offer a precise method to evaluate the duration of the event based on various characteristics of staining and deterioration. Research studies compared the sequential changes that occur when carpet tack strips are exposed to continuous moisture for one week periods of wetting and drying over a period in excess of 2 years. Research using carpet tack strips exposed to continuous and cyclical wet-dry periods of moisture exposure revealed visual and microbial clues that prove effective in differentiating the duration of a loss and whether the loss originated from a single or repeated event. Forensic engineers and scientists will discover that a carpet tack survey will expose the water release history of a structure and guide them to more accurate and defensible evaluations of a water damage claim.