Water is essential to life, but could also be a destructive force in life, like it could diminish the value of your home or your building. Your homes, as well as your commercial buildings, can suffer water damage that results in an increase of maintenance costs, a decrease in the value of your properties.

The best way to protect yourself against this potential loss brought by water damage is to ensure that your building components, which enclose the structure, or the building envelope, are water resistant.

You will also want to ensure that manufacturing processes, if it is present, do not allow excess water to accumulate. Make sure finally, that your plumbing and ventilation systems, which can be quite complicated in buildings, operate efficiently and are well maintained. For this, let me provide you some basic steps to assist you in identifying and eliminating potentially damaging excess moisture brought by water damage.

The following are your common building-related sources of water intrusion that can bring about water damage:

* Your windows and doors: You should check for leaks around your windows, your storefront systems and your doors.

* Your roof: Improper drainage systems and roof sloping reduces your roof life and becomes a primary source of moisture intrusion thus, leaks are also common around vents for exhaust or plumbing, rooftop air conditioning units or other specialized equipment.

* Your foundation and exterior walls: Seal any cracks and holes in your exterior walls, joints and foundations for these often develop as a naturally occurring byproduct of differential soil settlement.

* Your plumbing: Check for leaking plumbing fixtures, dripping pipes (including fire sprinkler systems), clogged drains (both interior and exterior), defective water drainage systems and damaged manufacturing equipment damaged by water damage.

* Your HVAC (Heating, Ventilation and Cooling) Systems: There are numerous types of systems, some very sophisticated, and are crucial components in maintaining a healthy, comfortable work environment for you. These systems are comprised of a number of components (including your chilled water piping and condensation drains) that can directly contribute to excessive moisture in your work environment. In addition, in humid climates, one of the functions of your system is to reduce the ambient air moisture (relative humidity) level throughout your building. An improperly operating HVAC system in your building will not perform this function.

You can also help prevent water intrusion and excessive moisture levels brought by water damage yourself by regularly inspecting the following elements of your building to ensure that they remain in good condition.

* Use flashings and sealants. They are designed to prevent water intrusion in your spaces where two building materials come together. Sealants and caulking are specifically applied to prevent moisture intrusion at your building joints. They must be both maintained and in good condition lest another water damage ruin them.

* Checking the vents: All your vents should have an appropriate hood, an exhaust to the exterior and be in good working order.

* Review the use of your manufacturing equipment that may include water for process or cooling. Ensure your wastewater drains adequately away with no spillage. You should check for condensation around hot or cold materials or heat transfer equipment.