Water Damage From a Refrigerator
Refrigerators are fairly well created appliances.
From top to bottom they are filled with various hardware designed to work
efficiently and together to make sure that they are always running
perfectly, because even a temporary breakdown of just a few hours can spoil
foods, create food borne illness, and make the entire system a failure.
However, despite all of the expertise that went
into these designs, the appliances are far from perfect, and there are
occasionally issues that might happen with your unit. One such issue is that
of water damage to your floor – a common occurrence with most refrigerator
types.
How Does the Water Damage Occur?
Beneath your refrigerator there is a water trap
designed to gather water that has leaked out from your freezer (and
occasionally your refrigerator). When you freeze items condensation tends to
occur, and you will find that ice forms all around your freezer. The ice
that forms can also melt, and when it melts it needs to travel outside of
the freezer.
That is why there is a pipe that goes from the
freezer to the water trap at the bottom of the machine. Normally water will
simply gather there and evaporate, but over time it is possible for that
water to build up and overflow, leaking on to your floor.
Why Does This Matter?
When water is consistently leaking out of the tray,
it is not uncommon for water damage to occur to your floor, and this damage
may be permanent. In addition, the water that goes through the pipe can be
contaminated with all types of disease (remnants from the bacteria of food
in your freezer) which will be able to spread easily on your bare floor.
All of these can cause:
·
Considerable damage to your floor which
may be very expensive to fix.
·
Mold on the corners of your floor and
wall depending on where the damage has hit.
·
Significant odor caused by a buildup of
bacteria and the associated water damage.
While they may not affect how well your
refrigerator works, they do affect how happy you are with your fridge and
what impact it makes on your home.
How Do You Stop Water Damage?
Stopping water damage is easy. If you want to
reduce water damage to your fridge, all you need to do is clean out the
water tray regularly, and check underneath constantly to ensure that the
tray is not spilling over. Also, try to reduce ice and water buildup in your
freezer and there will be less water building up in your water tray.
Water damage can be a drastic cost and create a
considerable smell underneath your refrigerator and in your kitchen. All you
need to do to reduce this damage is simply check the water tray and clean it
out regularly. If you do that, your house will not be prone to that damage,
and you will not incur any of the considerable costs that are associated
with it.
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