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.
Whatever got wet in your Queens home, the next few hours matter more than the next few days. Call us and we'll find a restoration specialist from our network who works in Queens County, New York, and can get dehumidifiers and extraction equipment to you soon.
Call Now: (888) 596-0163Someone picks up, day or night.
Homes around Queens are older than in 83% of the 28,807 places we track. That usually means more joints, more repairs and more places for water to get out.
63% of the 30,291 places we track come out drier. A normal year here brings enough water to find any weak spot in a roof or along a foundation wall.
Check your drains and the slope around the house ahead of August. It takes an afternoon, and it can save a lot of drying later.
Hurricanes and tropical storms lead the list here. Wind opens up the roof, and then the rain comes in behind it. We've left out 4 for other causes, such as fire or the pandemic.
Before anyone arrives
Go through these in order and skip anything that doesn't feel safe. None of it is worth getting hurt over.
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 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
You get a bit of everything here: long freezes that burst pipes, ice dams that send water through ceilings, and big coastal storms. Rivers can rise fast when heavy rain falls on melting snow, or when a tropical system stalls overhead.
This is some of the oldest housing in the country. Stone and brick foundations let groundwater seep through, plaster walls and hardwood floors need slow drying, and radiators and steam systems add old pipework that can fail with little warning.
Glacial soil and shallow bedrock limit how much water the ground can take. Rain and snowmelt move along the rock and into stone foundations, which is why many cellars here get wet even when no pipe has failed.
In a cold house, water hangs around. It barely leaves chilled drywall, stone or hardwood on its own, so winter jobs often bring in controlled heat along with the dehumidifiers to get things moving again.
When you call
First we'll want to know three things: where you are in Queens, 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 Queens County. That goes for homeowners, landlords and businesses alike.
Expect a walk through the house with a thermal camera and a moisture meter, because what you can see is usually only part of it. The specialist will also tell you which of the three categories you've got. Category 1 water is clean, Category 2 is dirty, and Category 3 is sewage or floodwater. That last one changes the job, with plastic containment around the work area and negative air machines pushing air through HEPA filters.
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.
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.
Don't write everything off just because it's wet. Clean-water carpet can usually be dried where it sits, with new pad underneath. Hardwood floors respond well to floor drying mats if you get to them early, though you may see some cupping for a while. And drywall usually needs a flood cut near the floor, not a whole new wall.
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.
We take calls from all over Queens and the rest of Queens County, for houses, apartments and commercial buildings. If you're not sure you're close enough, just ask.
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 Queens 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.
It depends on how much got wet and for how long. A fresh leak in one room could be dry in a couple of days, while a soaked floor and walls may need a week. You'll see daily readings, so you'll know how it's going.
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.
Sudden and accidental damage, such as a pipe that bursts, is usually covered. Slow leaks and rising floodwater usually aren't, unless you've got flood insurance. Take pictures before cleaning up and keep every receipt, because your insurance company will ask.
Call now. Tell us your address, and we'll find you the closest available specialist in Queens County.