1. Excess Water Removal

This pertains to draining, pumping, absorbing and vacuuming methods applied to remove the presence of visible water.  It is said that the excess water removal principle is the most abused principle since some contractors are not willing to invest in proper equipment and time to extract surplus moisture sufficiently.  In general, water removal could be done in minutes or seconds as compared to evaporation and dehumidification of the same water quantity that actually takes hours and days to finish.  Proper water removal or extraction could cut down the Category 1, Class 2 drying activities by a number of days.

2. Evaporation

The second structural drying principle is evaporation, which entails changing the physical aspect of water from liquid to vapor.  The fast movement of air from any professional drying tools or equipment heightens the rate of moisture evaporation into the air.  Thus, minimizing the moisture or dampness on the surfaces, which aids in microbial propagation.  This likewise incorporates evaporative cooling of structures and components to further prevent the growth of pathogenic microorganisms.

3. Dehumidification

Upon evaporation of moisture from the structural materials, the specific humidity (SH), relative humidity (RH), and vapor pressure of air increases.  Vapor pressure coerces the evaporation of moisture within cavities, structural materials and contents that results in having considerable secondary damage that increases the cost and scope of water damage.  The dehumidification process speeds up drying by lowering vapor pressure and raising moisture out of materials into the air.

4. Temperature Control

The last but not the least principle of drying is the proper control of temperature within a given environment.  For this influences the efficiency of evaporation, dehumidification and the ability of microorganisms to thrive.