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.
You've found water and you're not sure how bad it is. That's normal, and it's why you can just call. Tell us what's going on in Fayetteville, Tennessee, and we'll connect you with a local restoration specialist who can bring pumps, truck-mounted extraction and dehumidifiers to your door.
Call Now: (888) 596-0163Someone picks up, day or night.
That's older than 63% of the 28,807 US places we track. Older homes often have pipes and drains that have been patched more than once.
That's wetter than 95% of the 30,291 places we track. A normal year here brings enough water to find any weak spot in a roof or along a foundation wall.
If you've been meaning to clear the gutters, do it before December comes around.
Winter weather tops this list. A burst pipe usually gives itself away when things warm up, not when it freezes. Not counted here: 2 more for things like fires 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.
You've got about 24 to 48 hours to start drying before rot and mold become the bigger problem.
Typical build year
By now, most homes from this era have had some plumbing replaced, and the leftover sections are usually the risk. Look for gray galvanized pipe next to newer copper or plastic, because those joints can corrode. If you've had a few sewer backups, the old line itself may be the cause.
It's also worth replacing rubber washing machine hoses with braided steel. It's a ten-minute job, and those hoses cause a surprising number of flooded laundry rooms.
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 humid Southeast
You'll know this weather: warm and wet for much of the year, with big storms that come in fast. Wind-driven rain finds gaps around windows and roof edges, and low-lying roads and yards can flood within an hour. In this kind of air, nothing dries on its own.
Many homes here sit over vented crawlspaces, where damp air and leaking lines can keep floor joists wet out of sight. Newer houses are often on slabs, and older city neighborhoods have brick rowhouses with plaster walls. Air conditioning adds its own risk, since a clogged condensate line can run water into a ceiling or wall for days.
The ground doesn't get much chance to dry out. Sandy ground fills from below in a wet season, and clay holds water against your foundation after every storm. In the hills, runoff gets moving fast. A downspout that drains away from the house makes a real difference.
You can't dry a house here by opening the windows. That just brings in more moisture. LGR dehumidifiers do the real work, running until your floor joists, studs and drywall have given up their water, and ideally before the warm air gives mold its chance.
When you call
The call itself is short. Tell us your address in Fayetteville, what got wet and if it's still coming in. We'll connect you with a restoration specialist from our network who covers Lincoln County, and they'll tell you what they can do and when. It doesn't matter if it's a house, a rental or a business.
The first hour is mostly detective work. Using thermal imaging and moisture meters, the specialist traces the water through walls and floors. Then they'll sort it into Category 1, 2 or 3, from clean supply line water to sewage or floodwater. If it's Category 3, they'll seal the area with plastic sheeting and set up negative air with HEPA filtration, so the contaminated air stays put.
Most of the job is drying, and it's slower than people expect. Extraction units, often truck-mounted, take out the bulk water. Air movers and low grain refrigerant (LGR) dehumidifiers then do the long, loud work of pulling moisture out of walls and floors. Desiccant units come in when it's too cold or the materials are too dense for LGR machines. Psychrometric readings, which are daily checks of temperature and humidity, tell the specialist if the setup needs changing.
Looking dry and being dry are two different things. The specialist takes moisture readings from unaffected parts of your home to set a dry standard, and the machines keep going until everything wet matches it. That's how the IICRC S500 guidance says to do it, and the daily log gives your insurer the proof it asks for.
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.
Contaminated water is where the rules get strict. Sewage or floodwater means the carpet and pad come out, along with wet insulation, and what's left gets an antimicrobial treatment. It's also not safe to relight a gas appliance that's been underwater until someone's checked it, and a soft floor needs a look before anyone stands on it.
We take calls from all over Fayetteville and the rest of Lincoln County, for houses, apartments and commercial buildings. If you're not sure you're close enough, just ask.
Usually the same day, and often within a few hours. It depends on who's closest and how busy Lincoln County is. If a storm has just gone through, everyone's calling at once, so call as soon as you can.
A small spill of clean water on a hard floor? Sure. Towels and a fan will do it. But if the water's in the walls, the carpet pad or the subfloor, or it came from a sewer or a flood, you'll want it extracted and properly dried. What you can't see is what keeps causing damage.
Usually three to five days for the drying alone. The specialist can tell you more after the first readings. Materials such as hardwood, plaster and concrete hold on to water longer, and repairs can only begin when they're dry.
It depends on time and on the water. For hardwood, floor drying panels and patience can do a lot, though refinishing may still be needed. For carpet, clean water usually means new pad and the same carpet. Contaminated water means replacing both.
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 Lincoln County.