A pipe lets go in the middle of the night. The AC condensate pan overflows and finds the ceiling below it. A tropical system parks over the bayou for three hours and the slab takes on water through every hairline crack. Whatever the source, the clock starts the second the water shows up — and in Houston, that clock runs faster than just about anywhere else in the country.
We’ve been answering those calls in greater Houston since 2002. Twenty-plus years of getting water out of homes from Bellaire to The Woodlands, from Memorial to League City. Crews dispatch around the clock and we’ll be on your driveway with extraction equipment, air movers, and dehumidifiers in under an hour for most of the metro. Direct insurance billing on the major carriers. No upsells, no hourly games. Just techs who know how to dry a Houston house properly the first time.
Why a Houston water emergency isn’t a DIY situation
Plenty of homeowners try to handle the first hours themselves. Towels, box fans, the wet-vac from the garage. The problem isn’t effort — the problem is what’s happening behind the walls while you’re working on the floor. Here’s what professional restoration adds that a weekend cleanup can’t.
Standing water is the smallest part of the job
Water you can see is roughly five percent of the problem. The other ninety-five is what migrated into wall cavities, under the laminate, into the subfloor, and through the bottom plate. By the time the visible mess is gone, moisture is already wicking up two-by-fours and saturating insulation. We bring moisture meters, thermal cameras, and probe sensors into every room. The goal is to map exactly where water went, not just where it pooled.
Houston gives you a 48-hour mold window. That’s it.
Mold colonies start forming on damp surfaces within 24 to 48 hours when humidity stays above 60 percent. Houston runs above 70 on most days. That window closes fast, and once it does, what was a water claim turns into a water-and-mold claim — different insurance category, different scope of work, different price tag. Drying a house properly inside that window is the entire ballgame. It’s why we don’t pack up after extraction; we set commercial air movers and LGR dehumidifiers and stay on the home until moisture readings come back to normal.
The equipment is genuinely different from what you can rent
Big-box rental dehumidifiers pull about 30 pints of water per day. Our LGR units pull 130 to 240 pints under Houston conditions. We run them in calculated arrays — typically one unit per 1,200 square feet of affected area, paired with axial air movers angled to keep boundary-layer air moving across wet surfaces. For deep saturation behind walls, we use Inject-A-Dry panels rather than tearing out drywall that could have been saved. On equipment alone, that’s the difference between four days of drying and twelve.
Insurance is its own job, and we already do it
Most Houston homeowners don’t realize their carrier requires specific documentation: dated moisture readings, photo logs of every affected area, scope of work that maps to Xactimate line items, and a Certificate of Drying at completion. Skip any of it and you’re fighting for the reimbursement. We document continuously from the first inspection and we bill major carriers directly — Allstate, State Farm, Farmers, Liberty Mutual, USAA, Travelers. You handle the deductible and the policy questions; we handle everything that goes back to the adjuster.
Sewage and contaminated water are a separate world
Category 1 water is clean — supply-line break, rainwater, an AC overflow caught early. Category 2 is gray water with some contamination. Category 3 is sewage, outside flood water, and any standing water that’s been sitting more than 48 hours. Cat 3 jobs require PPE, biocide treatment, and removal of porous materials that absorbed contaminants. We’re set up for all three categories, and the storm events Houston has dealt with from Harvey forward have given our crews more Cat 3 experience than most companies want to think about.
Structural drying isn’t done when it looks dry
Subfloor that feels dry to the touch can still hold 18 percent moisture content — well above the 12 to 15 percent threshold that prevents mold and warping. Drywall reads dry on the surface and saturated two inches in. The job isn’t done until pin-type and pinless meters both confirm normal readings across every affected material. We document final readings and provide a Certificate of Drying that satisfies your insurance carrier and any future buyer’s home inspection.
Water emergencies in Houston don’t wait, and neither should the call. Whether you’re in the middle of a 2 a.m. burst pipe in Spring Branch or a hurricane-aftermath cleanup in Friendswood, our crews are on most jobs in under 60 minutes, any hour of the day. Free assessment, no obligation, direct insurance work from the first phone call.
Frequently asked questions
How quickly can you get to my house after I call?
Most of greater Houston, we’ll have a crew on-site in under 60 minutes, 24/7. Outer-ring suburbs like Conroe, Texas City, and Brookshire typically run 60 to 90 minutes. We dispatch the moment you hang up — not after a workup gets approved by an office.
Is water damage covered by my homeowners insurance?
Sudden and accidental water damage is almost always covered: burst pipes, AC overflow, water heater failure, washing machine breaks. Flood water from outside (storm surge, slab seepage during hurricanes) requires separate flood insurance through the NFIP or a private flood policy. Sewage backup needs a specific endorsement, which most Houston policies don’t include by default. We’ll help you sort out coverage on the first call.
What should I do before your crew arrives?
Shut off the water source if you can do it safely. Kill power to affected rooms at the breaker — never touch a wet outlet. Move pets and small valuables to a dry area. Take photos of everything before any cleanup starts. Don’t try to vacuum standing water with a regular wet-vac if there’s any chance it touched outlets or contained sewage.
How long does the drying process actually take?
Three to five days is typical for a clean-water job in a single room. A whole-floor extraction with multiple wet rooms can run seven to ten. Cat 3 sewage jobs take longer because materials have to be cut out before drying starts. We pull moisture readings every 24 hours, and you’ll see the trend yourself — drying isn’t done by stopwatch, it’s done when the numbers say it’s done.
What’s the difference between water mitigation and water restoration?
Mitigation is the immediate work — extraction, drying, mold prevention, removal of unsalvageable materials. That’s where we live. Restoration is putting the home back together — drywall replacement, paint, flooring, trim. We focus on mitigation and partner with trusted Houston contractors for the rebuild side. Most homeowners actually prefer the split because it gives them choice on the cosmetic decisions.
Will mold form even if you dry the house quickly?
Properly dried in under 48 hours, the risk drops to nearly zero. Beyond that, some mold is effectively guaranteed in our climate even with aggressive drying — at that point we shift into remediation mode and treat affected areas with EPA-registered antimicrobial. The job is to stop colonies from spreading and to remove materials that are already compromised.
Do I have to leave my house during the work?
Usually no. The equipment is loud (roughly 65 to 70 decibels per air mover, times however many we set up), and dehumidifiers raise indoor temperatures noticeably. Most clients sleep upstairs while we work the first floor, or rent a hotel for two or three nights. Cat 3 sewage jobs almost always require relocation, and your Loss of Use coverage typically handles the cost.
Are your technicians IICRC certified?
Yes — every lead tech on our restoration side carries IICRC Water Damage Restoration (WRT) certification at minimum, with most also holding Applied Structural Drying (ASD) and Applied Microbial Remediation (AMRT) credentials. Insurance carriers specifically look for this; jobs done by uncertified crews often get pushed back during claim review.
What does water damage restoration cost in Houston?
A small clean-water mitigation (one room, fast response, no Cat 3) typically runs $1,200 to $3,500. A whole-floor job with multiple rooms and several days of drying runs $4,000 to $8,500. Sewage and large flood events go higher. Most Houston water damage claims clear $5,000-plus on the insurance side, so out-of-pocket for the homeowner is generally just the deductible.
What areas around Houston do you cover?
The full greater Houston metro and beyond — The Woodlands, Spring, Cypress, Katy, Sugar Land, Pearland, Friendswood, League City, Pasadena, Bellaire, Memorial, Heights, Galleria, Energy Corridor, and most points in between. We also dispatch to Galveston, Conroe, Texas City, and Beaumont for major events. Call (832) 699-0888 with your zip and we’ll quote you a response time.