Water damage in older properties
Water damage in an older building? Find out what is in the materials before demolition starts.
We are not a drying and extraction franchise. We handle the part that stops those companies: when the water-damaged materials in an older property turn out to involve lead paint or suspect asbestos, and the demolition cannot proceed until it is dealt with properly.
The project path
From the loss to the finished room
Not every water-damaged building contains lead or asbestos. The point of the first two steps is to answer that question before anyone opens a wall.
What is usually affected
In an older building, the wet materials are often the painted ones
Water-damaged materials in older properties commonly include painted plaster, drywall and joint systems, ceilings, wood trim, baseboards, doors, door frames, windows and window components, flooring and insulation. Removing them can disturb lead-painted components or suspect asbestos-containing materials — which is a different job from drying a modern house out.
Where the loss came from
Broken pipes and plumbing leaks · roof leaks · storm damage · basement water · bathroom and kitchen leaks · fire-related water damage · other property losses.
Why it matters before demolition
Once a saw or a pry bar goes into painted plaster in a pre-1978 building, the work has become something with its own requirements. Finding that out afterwards costs far more than testing first.
Mold and moisture
Water-damage projects can also involve moisture and mold concerns. Where necessary, mold-related services are performed or coordinated with appropriately qualified professionals or subcontractors.
Working with your other professionals
Documentation the whole project team can use
Property-loss projects usually involve more than one party — the owner, a restoration contractor, a property manager, and the appropriate insurance professionals. We provide the environmental documentation, photographs, scopes and estimates so everyone is working from clear information about the work required.
Environmental evaluation
Prompt site attendance, sampling and identification while the project is open.
Written scopes and estimates
Clear scopes that separate the environmental work from the reconstruction.
Photographic documentation
Progress and completion photographs, including conditions that will not be visible once the work is closed up.
Disposal documentation
Records for materials removed and disposed of under the applicable requirements.
Water damage in progress?
Call first. Photographs second.
If the property is actively wet, call — timing matters. If you are past that point and deciding what to demolish, send photographs of the affected areas with the property address and year built.
Useful to include
Direct document upload is being added shortly. Until then, email or call reaches the same place.