Emergency Water Damage Restoration
This is the call for water that's coming in right now. We get a local specialist on the way to stop the source, pull the water out and start drying the same day.
Call Now: (888) 596-0163Water in the house? Call now, and we'll find you a local specialist.
Water where it shouldn't be gets stressful fast, and it keeps spreading while you work out what to do. If it's a burst pipe, a soaked ceiling or storm water at the door in Shasta, California, call us. We'll get a specialist from our network of local restoration companies moving toward you, with extraction equipment and dehumidifiers.
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That's newer than 74% of the 28,807 US places we track. Newer doesn't mean leak-proof, though. It only changes what's likely to fail.
97% of the 30,291 places we track come out drier. That's plenty of water to find a tired roof, a blocked downspout or a low spot by the foundation.
If you've been meaning to clear the gutters, do it before February comes around.
Severe storms lead the list here. They can open up a roof in minutes, and you may not see the leak for days. We've left out 12 for other causes, such as fire or the pandemic.
Before anyone arrives
These are the steps that help most before anyone gets there. Do what you safely can.
Look for the main valve near the meter or where the line comes into the house, and turn it slowly, since older valves can stick. If it's one fixture, its own shutoff valve will do.
If you can reach the breaker panel without stepping in water, switch off the wet rooms. If you can't, leave it alone, stay out of the water and tell us when you call.
Before you clean up, photograph the water, where it came from and whatever it damaged. Your insurance company will ask, and you only get one chance at those shots.
Move rugs, papers, photos and electronics to a dry room, and prop furniture up off the wet floor. Everything else can wait.
If the water is clean and the power's safe, open interior doors and run the fans you have. Stay out if it's sewage or floodwater, and keep that air away from the rest of the house.
Mold can get started within 24 to 48 hours, so it's worth calling even if the worst seems over.
Typical build year
Homes from these years often had plastic plumbing put in, and one type stands out. Polybutylene, usually gray and often stamped PB, was widely used until the mid 1990s and is known for failing without warning, usually at the fittings.
Check the exposed lines near your water heater and under the sinks. While you're there, look at the tank's age on its label. Eight to twelve years is about all you can expect, and when one fails, it fails on the floor.
Call Now: (888) 596-0163
This is the call for water that's coming in right now. We get a local specialist on the way to stop the source, pull the water out and start drying the same day.
Call Now: (888) 596-0163
The more water that comes out at this stage, the less has to be dried later. Pumps and extraction units clear carpet, pad, hardwood and tile, then everything the water touched gets cleaned.
Call Now: (888) 596-0163
Floodwater is never clean. It carries soil and sewage, so mud and silt get cleared, soaked drywall and insulation get cut out, and what stays gets disinfected.
Call Now: (888) 596-0163
If your home has a basement, a failed sump pump or a backed-up drain can fill it fast. It gets pumped out, the concrete and block get dried, and someone finds out how the water got in.
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Air movers and dehumidifiers run until the meters say your walls, subfloor and framing are back to normal. Not until they look dry. Until the readings prove it.
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Once the structure is dry, the drywall, flooring, trim and paint go back. You'll have photos and notes for your claim along the way.
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Rain here tends to come all at once. Atmospheric rivers can drop weeks of normal rain in a few days, overwhelming storm drains after a long dry season. Above hillside neighborhoods, burn scars can turn that rain into mud and debris flows. And it's a very different story from the foggy coast to the hot inland valleys.
Slab foundations and raised floors with crawlspaces are both common, often in the same neighborhood. Stucco over wood framing can hide water for a long time. Older copper and galvanized lines develop pinhole leaks, and earthquakes can shift pipe connections that then fail years later.
What's under your house depends on where you are. Clay shifts with the seasons and stresses pipes, sandy ground near the coast can have water close to the surface, and hillsides hold water until they suddenly don't. Good drainage away from the house helps in all three.
What dries a house near the ocean won't be what dries one in the Central Valley, so there's no standard setup. Specialists take psychrometric readings of the air in your home, check its grains per pound each day, and change the equipment to suit.
When you call
First we'll want to know three things: where you are in Shasta, where the water came from and if it's stopped. From there, we'll connect you with a local specialist from our network, so you're speaking to someone who works in Shasta County. That goes for homeowners, landlords and businesses alike.
Water travels through walls without leaving a mark, so the first step is measuring, not mopping. A thermal camera and moisture meters map the wet area. Next comes the question of what's in the water. Category 1 is clean supply water. Category 2 has been in contact with something, like a dishwasher overflow. Category 3 is sewage or floodwater, and it calls for containment: plastic sheeting, plus negative air machines with HEPA filters, so nothing spreads through the house.
Drying is a process, and you'll have strange machines in the house for a few days. The bulk of the water goes first, by truck-mounted or portable extractor. Air movers then lift moisture off surfaces, and low grain refrigerant (LGR) dehumidifiers remove it from the air. A cold building or dense material may need desiccant units instead. Daily psychrometric readings show if the air is still pulling water out.
A wall can feel dry and still hold plenty of water. That's why the specialist measures a dry standard from unaffected wood and drywall nearby and keeps the equipment running until the wet areas match. This is the method in the IICRC S500 standard, and those moisture logs back up your insurance claim.
A lot of it can stay if you move quickly. If the water was clean, the carpet is often fine once the pad is replaced. Hardwood needs slow, careful drying with mats, and it may want refinishing at the end. Drywall is the easy one: a flood cut takes off the wet part, a little above the waterline, and the top of the wall is untouched.
Sewage and floodwater are a different story. Carpet they've touched has to go, and what stays gets cleaned and treated with an antimicrobial. Two more things to check before you use the room again: a gas appliance that sat in water, and any floor that feels soft underfoot.
From one end of Shasta to the other, and on through Shasta County, the first step is the same call. Homes and businesses are both covered.
Often within hours. Our network covers Shasta County, and we'll look for whoever can reach you soonest. Storms are the exception, because every crew in the area gets busy, so please don't wait to see if it gets worse.
You can handle a minor spill if it's clean water and it hasn't gone anywhere. For anything that's reached the carpet pad, the walls or the floor below, professional drying really does make a difference, and floodwater or sewage should be left to people with the right protective gear.
A small leak that's caught early may dry in two or three days. A flooded room with wet subfloor and insulation can take a week or more, and repairs start after that.
Often, yes, if drying starts quickly. Hardwood can come back with floor drying mats and slow, controlled drying, though it may cup for a while and need refinishing. Carpet soaked by clean water can usually be saved with a new pad. Carpet that sewage or floodwater touched has to go.
That's between you and your insurance company, but most policies cover sudden water damage from inside the home. Flood is separate, and sewer backup is often an add-on. Your best help is good records: photos from the start, plus the daily drying readings.
The sooner drying starts, the less has to come out. One call gets a local specialist moving toward you.