The document that proves it
Ask for the daily readings. A contractor working to a number will have them.
A drying log records moisture readings taken in the affected materials, usually twice a day, alongside the equipment running and the conditions in the room. It is how anyone knows the building is dry rather than dry to the touch, and it is the document that answers questions months later.
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What is actually in it
Readings from named locations in the structure, a comparison with unaffected material of the same type in the same building, the temperature and relative humidity in the room, and what equipment was running where. Dated daily, from the first visit to the last.
The comparison point matters more than the absolute number. Timber in a Louisiana summer reads differently from timber in Colorado, so the target is the local normal rather than a fixed figure.
Why it settles the argument about equipment days
Equipment is charged per day it stands in your house, and the most common dispute in this trade is whether it needed to stand that long. A log turns that from an argument into a chart: the readings either kept falling or they did not.
It works both ways. A contractor with a log can show why an unusually long dry was necessary, and a homeowner with a log can see when it was not.
Who asks for it later
An adjuster deciding a claim, a buyer surveyor who found a stain, a future insurer pricing the property, and a mold remediator trying to work out whether an old leak was ever properly dried. Each of them is answering the same question, and the log is the only honest answer.
Keep it with the invoice and any verification. Together they are the file for that event.
Why you want it
The document does different work depending on what comes next.
- 01You own and live here. Ask for it at the start, not at the end. A contractor told on day one that you want the log keeps a better one.
- 02You own it and rent it out. It is your evidence that the building was made dry, which is the question a tenant complaint will turn on months later.
- 03You are selling. A log plus a final reading answers the survey finding before it becomes a price negotiation.
- 04You are buying. Ask for it where a repaired water event is disclosed. A receipt proves payment; a log proves drying.
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What to ask before you agree to anything
Ask these of whoever turns up. A contractor who answers them plainly is the one you want; a contractor who will not is telling you something.
- 01Will you leave me the daily log as a document, not only a figure on the invoice?
- 02Which locations are you reading, and what is your comparison material?
- 03What target reading are you drying to and why that one?
- 04How many days of equipment are in your quote, and what happens if it takes longer?
- 05Will you give me a final reading in writing when you remove the equipment?
- 06What licence do you hold, and under which authority?
Have this ready before you call
Three facts move the first minute past the formalities: what happened, when it started, and whether water is still moving. These add the detail that decides what gets loaded on the van.
- The date the water arrived and the date drying started
- Which rooms and which materials are affected
- Whether an insurer is involved
- Whether a sale or letting is coming
- Any earlier water events at the property
- Somewhere to keep the file where you will find it in five years
Connects you with an independent contractor about new work. Calls may be recorded.
Where these figures come from
Every number on this page is published by someone other than us, and each link goes to their own text rather than to a summary of it.