You made the call. The water has been sitting there, and a new fear sets in. What happens now? Who comes through your door, who touches what, and when does it seem normal to you again? The hard part is the uncertainty.
Knowing the roadmap ahead helps lighten that load. This is a no-frills look at water damage restoration with Restoration Logistics, from the very first call through when the equipment leaves.
What Does Water Damage Restoration in Fact Entail
Everyone hears restoration and imagines a mop with a fan. The real work runs deeper. Water damage restoration is the process of retaining the water, drying out the structure below it, sanitizing what got wet, and repairing whatever it destroyed.
Why is the scope important for you? This is because water hardly sticks to the surface. It seeps into drywall, the subfloor, and the framing behind your walls, unseen places that determine if the damage stops or keeps spreading. The only thing the carpet crew leaves behind is the root of the problem.
This is also what makes each situation feel so normal. The second most common homeowners’ insurance claim is for water damage and freezing, following wind and hail. One in every 67 insured homes files a claim each year. You are not the first guy on your street to have this issue.
First Call With Restoration Logistics
Everything starts with that first call, and it is shorter than you might expect. The time on the clock doesn’t change.
- What does that call typically consist of?
- Your address, and how the crew gets inside
- What had happened was noticed in the past.
- Existing images you may have captured of the damage in question
- Insurance information, if you intend to file
Then, a team is dispatched to meet you within an hour of emergency dispatch. Someone on the line may also tell you about some safety steps to take while you wait. Such as shutting off the electricity to a room that has water in it, if you can do so without being electrocuted.
The Query and What the Crew Inspects
The crew surveys the space first, before anyone even turns on a fan. They search for the source of the water because it is pointless fighting to dry a room while water keeps flowing in.
And that’s when the part most homeowners never see coming. They use moisture meters and thermal imaging cameras to locate hidden water in walls and underneath floors. So a baseboard can feel completely dry to the touch while the drywall just above it stays wet. That gap between a dry appearance and actual dryness is what the meters measure.
This inspection defines the entire plan. It tells the crew what to dry, what can be salvaged, and what is beyond salvage.
The Time Water Damage Restoration Takes
In all honesty, it comes down to how long you had some water just sitting. A tiny clean-water spill detected early could dry up in several days. But then there is a week of a soaking basement. It varies more than most companies care to admit.
Drying is the slow stretch. Once the extraction pulls the standing water, air movers and dehumidifiers continue to run continuously for days to draw further moisture from the structure. This is where nobody warns you. They’re noisy pieces of machinery dwelling in your home for a couple of days.
Every day, the team checks moisture readings and extracts the equipment only when the readings indicate the structure is dry. Rushing this step backfires. Shut off the fans too early, and the moisture trapped inside the structure becomes mold or warped floors weeks later.
What Gets Removed and What Stays
This is the thing nobody wants to speak aloud. The truth is that it depends on the water.
A ruptured supply line spews clean for the bumbling best situation, and a lot of the fabric may fix in opposition to offer plain. Gray water and sewage are not the same. Since sewage backups contain bacteria, cleanup usually means removing and replacing waterlogged porous materials and deep cleaning the area to eliminate odors. This may end up removing some drywall or flooring. That has nothing to do with adding more to the bill. Drying alone cannot make contaminated materials safe.
Afterward, it is restoration logistics that fixes what the water ruined. After that, the crew rebuilds swollen floors and stained ceilings, cuts out drywall, and deodorizes the room until it no longer smells damp.
The 3 Things Restoration Logistics Takes Care of for You and Your Insurer
Claiming in the middle of a house underwater is quite the burden to bear. Restoration Logistics can work directly with your insurance company, on-site documenting the damage and the drying, so your file has what it needs for proof!
Turns out, the paper trail matters more than anyone realized. Even a small amount of water can cause significant damage. According to FEMA, one inch of floodwater costs more than $25,000. Those are precisely the kinds of numbers for which taking clear documentation from day one will give your insurer less basis for playing hardball. It ensures you are no longer distracted and can concentrate on what matters most: your family.
The Look of Your Home Once Work Has Been Completed
You want the completed work as if the water had never visited. You have a dry structure, fresh air, repaired walls and floors, and no mildewy odor.
And this is what the process is all about, and why it is worth starting to protect as soon as possible. The cost of water damage doubles each hour it lingers. Call Restoration Logistics at (303)657-1400 at any hour of the day and get a crew moving before your tiny leaky faucet turns into a room with no walls.
