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.
Maybe a pipe let go, maybe the storm found a way in. Either way, you don't have to sort this out alone. Call us from Glastonbury Center, Connecticut, and we'll put you in touch with a restoration specialist from our network, with truck-mounted extraction and dehumidifiers for the drying that follows.
Call Now: (888) 596-0163Someone picks up, day or night.
Housing here is older than in 51% of the 28,807 places on our list. Age alone won't cause a leak, but it does mean more pipe that's been in the wall a long time.
That's wetter than 55% of the 30,291 places we track. 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 October comes around.
Before anyone arrives
You don't have to do all of this. Do what's safe, in this order, and leave the rest.
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.
The clock on mold is roughly 24 to 48 hours, which is why we'd rather hear from you early.
Typical build year
Homes from these decades often still have their first galvanized pipes, or a mix of galvanized and newer copper. Where those two metals meet is a common place for a leak to start. Some homes from the middle of this period also have sewer lines made of a tar-paper pipe called Orangeburg, which sags and collapses with age.
Look where pipes join around the water heater and under sinks, and check for rust or green crust. Slow drains in several rooms are worth a sewer camera, and that's a lot cheaper than a backup.
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.
Call Now: (888) 596-0163
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.
Call Now: (888) 596-0163
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.
Call Now: (888) 596-0163The Northeast
Winter's hard on houses here. A pipe in an outside wall can freeze overnight, and a roof with an ice dam leaks even though it's perfectly sound. Nor'easters hit the coast with wind and flooding, and in late summer the leftovers of a tropical storm can flood towns far from the ocean.
Older homes here have their own way of handling water, and it isn't always a good one. Stone cellars let it in, plaster holds it and steam systems can spring a leak in the middle of winter. Row houses add a neighbor's pipes to the list of things that can flood you.
Dig down a little around here and you'll often hit rock. Water can't go through it, so it moves along it, and if your foundation's in the way, it comes in. A damp cellar after a rainy week is very often groundwater, not a leak.
Cold materials hold on to water. So in winter, specialists add controlled heat to the room, warming walls and floors enough to give up their moisture while the dehumidifiers take it out of the air.
When you call
Don't worry about having the right words. Just tell us what you're seeing. We'll get your address and a rough idea of the damage, then put you through to a specialist in our network who works around Glastonbury Center. They handle homes and commercial property, and they'll give you a time.
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.
Expect the drying to take longer than the cleanup. After a truck-mounted or portable unit has pulled out the standing water, air movers and LGR (low grain refrigerant) dehumidifiers run around the clock. Desiccant units get swapped in for cold rooms and dense materials. The specialist takes psychrometric readings each day, tracking temperature and humidity to see how fast the air is taking up water.
The finish line isn't when things look dry. Readings from dry wood and drywall in your own house set the target, called the dry standard, and the equipment stays until the wet areas reach it. That's the IICRC S500 standard for water damage at work, and those daily records are what your insurance company wants to see.
More than you'd think, if it's caught early. Carpet soaked with clean water can often be dried in place once the pad's been pulled. Hardwood is worth trying to save too, with floor drying mats and slow drying, though it may need refinishing. Drywall that's wet only at the base can be cut a little above the waterline instead of being replaced to the ceiling, which is what a flood cut is.
Things change when the water's dirty. Anything soft that sewage or floodwater reached, such as carpet, pad and insulation, gets thrown out. Hard surfaces get cleaned and treated. Have a professional look at any gas appliance that got wet before you turn it back on, and don't walk on a floor that's gone spongy.
Our network covers Glastonbury Center and the towns around it in Capitol Planning Region. That includes homes, rentals and businesses, day or night.
In most cases you'll have someone on the way that day. You can ask for a time when you're connected with the specialist. It may take longer after a storm, when much of Glastonbury Center needs help at once.
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.
Most homes take three to five days of drying once the water's out. Dense materials such as hardwood and plaster can take longer, and any rebuilding comes afterward.
Quite often. Floor mats and steady air can save hardwood that would otherwise be torn out, so tell the specialist about it first thing. With carpet, it all depends on the water: clean means dry it and replace the pad, sewage or floodwater means it comes out.
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.
Day or night, someone picks up. We'll connect you with a specialist who works in Capitol Planning Region.