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.
A leak at 2 a.m. doesn't wait for business hours, and neither do we. If water's getting into your home or business in Lyman, Washington, call and we'll line up a nearby specialist who brings the extraction gear and dehumidifiers to deal with it properly.
Call Now: (888) 596-0163Someone picks up, day or night.
Homes around Lyman are older than in 80% of the 28,807 places we track. That usually means more joints, more repairs and more places for water to get out.
That's wetter than 75% 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 November comes around.
Flooding leads the list here. Floodwater is never clean, so anything it touches needs more than drying. Not counted here: 19 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.
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 Pacific Northwest
The rain here wears things down slowly. A small gap in the siding or a tired roof can let in a little water all winter long, and you may not notice until spring. To the east, the risk looks different, with hard freezes and ice taking most of the blame.
Have a look in your crawlspace at the end of the wet season. That's where a slow leak or poor drainage shows up, and damp air there can reach the floor above. Wood siding and cedar roofs look great, but they do need upkeep to keep the water out.
Soil stays saturated for much of the wet season, and glacial clay in many lowland areas barely drains at all. Water collects in crawlspaces and against foundations, and it can stay there for weeks after the rain lets up.
Outside air won't help when it's this wet. Specialists seal off the area and run desiccant dehumidifiers, which keep working in cool, damp conditions where other machines slow down. It's especially useful in crawlspaces.
When you call
It starts with a few quick questions: your address, what happened and how long it's been wet. Then we'll connect you with someone from our network who works in Skagit County. Your own home, a rental or a business, you'll know what's next before the call ends.
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.
Getting the water out is the quick part. A truck-mounted or portable extractor handles that. After that, air movers sweep across wet surfaces, and low grain refrigerant (LGR) dehumidifiers take that moisture out of the room. In cold or dense spaces, desiccant dehumidifiers work better. You'll hear the machines day and night for a while, and daily psychrometric readings of the air show that they're working.
Nobody should take the machines away just because a wall feels dry. The target is the dry standard, measured from sound materials in your own home, and the job follows the IICRC S500 standard until the readings match. Ask for a copy of the daily log. Your insurer will want it.
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.
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.
Calls come to us from homeowners, landlords and business owners across Lyman and Skagit County. Give us your address, and we'll find out who's closest.
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 Lyman needs help at once.
Small and clean, yes. Large or dirty, no. A shop vac and fans can deal with a little water on a hard surface, but they won't reach what's soaked into drywall and subfloor. That hidden moisture is where mold and rot get started.
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.
Often, but not always. Insurers tend to pay for sudden leaks and not for long-term seepage. Flooding from outside needs its own policy. Call your insurance company early, and keep the moisture logs and photos, since they make the claim much easier.
Call now. Tell us your address, and we'll find you the closest available specialist in Skagit County.