Removing water that ponded outside a home and found its way in through a low door, a slab edge or a drain, then drying the rooms it reached.
Fastest: call (833) 490-5225. Or send this and we call you back.
Water that pools in a yard, against a foundation or over a low drain finds the lowest opening in a building and comes in there. In Tampa, the wet season fills yard drains and low ground, and the water often enters through a garage, a lower door or a slab edge. The cleanup removes the water, finds the entry and dries the rooms it reached. Calls are answered 24/7 on (833) 490-5225.
Most people think of a yard as a place where rain goes away. In a heavy storm the yard becomes a basin. The soil is saturated, the drains are full, and the water stands against the house until it finds a way in. The entry is almost never the wall itself. It is the door sill, the garage threshold, a window well or a slab edge where the ground is level with the floor.
This is a different loss from a storm that comes through the roof or a window. The water arrives slowly from outside, it may keep arriving for hours, and it can enter the house in several places at once. The first step is to stop the water coming in from the ground, and the second is to remove the water that is already inside, which is the same work described on the flood pump-out page.
The cleanup also has to look at the outside. The yard drain, the grade next to the foundation and the downspouts are where the water came from, and their condition decides whether the next storm will do the same. The crew reports on what it sees outside the building, and the homeowner decides with a landscaper or a drainage trade what to change.
Do not wade through standing water that is above the ankle, especially in the dark, because the ground under it may be soft and there may be hidden hazards. Keep away from electrical equipment and outlets that are in or near water, and turn off power at the panel if water reaches them. Water in a yard can contain sewage and debris, so wash after any contact. Keep children and pets out of the pond. This page describes the water work and does not cover the regrading of the lot or the repair of the drainage.
The crew looks for the lowest opening on the wet side of the building, usually a threshold, a garage slab edge or a low window. The entry is recorded with photographs, and the water's path from there to the rooms is traced.
Where the water is still entering, temporary barriers and sandbags are placed at the threshold or the door. The downspout that dumps water against the wall can be redirected by the homeowner, and the crew notes it on the record.
A pump removes the standing water inside the building, and the discharge is taken to a point well away from the foundation so it does not run straight back in. The crew sets the discharge where it will not reach the house again.
The rooms that took water from outside are read with moisture meters and dried with air movement and dehumidifiers. Lower walls and floor covering are checked, since the water often reaches a slab edge and runs along the wall base.
The crew records the yard grade, the drain and the downspouts as they affect the entry. The report goes to the homeowner, who decides what to change with a landscaper or a drainage trade. The crew does not regrade the lot or repair the drain.
Because the soil is saturated and the drains are full, so the water has nowhere to go but toward the building. It enters at the lowest opening it can reach.
When the soil has taken in a week of rain, it cannot absorb more, and the surface water runs toward the low points of the yard. A yard drain that is full or a grade that slopes toward the house sends that water to the foundation. The water stands and rises until it finds a threshold, a door or a slab edge, and then it enters. The lowest opening is the one most likely to fail, and it is the first one the crew checks.
Yes, when it is blocked, undersized for the rain or discharging against the house. A drain that does not empty leaves the water standing where it cannot be carried away.
A yard drain that is full of leaves, sand or silt stops working in a storm, and the water it should carry off stays on the surface. A downspout that dumps water against the foundation adds to the pond. The crew records these conditions, because they explain the entry. Changing the grade, clearing or replacing the drain and moving the downspout are for a landscaper or a drainage trade, and the homeowner decides when to do the work.
Not usually. Water that has crossed a yard picks up soil and debris, and its category is judged on site. It is treated as more serious than clean rain, especially if it has mixed with sewage.
Ground water and yard water carry soil, leaves and whatever the ground holds, and they can carry more if the drain has taken sewage. The category is judged by where the water came from and what it touched, and the cleanup follows that category. Porous materials that have taken the water are often removed, and hard surfaces are cleaned and dried. The homeowner is told which materials were removed and why.
Keep the water away from the door with sandbags or a barrier if it is safe, move items up off the floor, and do not walk through standing water near the house.
A homeowner who sees the yard pond against the house can move stored goods to a higher shelf, lift the boxes and bins off the floor and place a barrier where the water is coming in. Do not enter standing water near the electrical side of the house, and turn off power at the panel if water reaches the outlets. The line is answered 24/7 on (833) 490-5225 for the water side of the call.
It can, if the yard, the drain and the downspout are not changed. The crew's report on the outside shows which conditions are likely to repeat.
A yard that pooled once in a storm will pool again in the next heavy one, unless the grade, the drain or the downspout is changed. The homeowner should ask for the report and take it to a landscaper or a drainage trade. The water work does not change the yard, and it is the homeowner's decision to do the outside work.
The most common ground entry. Water stands in the drive or the yard, and it comes under the door once the level outside is higher than the garage floor. The garage holds the water, and the rooms beyond it are read for spread.
On a slab home the floor is close to ground level, so a full yard can run under a side door or along the slab edge. The water reaches the room's lower walls, and the drying plan covers those walls.
A window well or a low opening that has no drain fills during a storm and leaks through its frame into the room. The entry is at the frame, and the damage sits below the window.
Low-lying ground across Tampa and the coastal parts of Hillsborough County takes surface water toward the houses in a heavy storm, and the wet season from June to November is when that happens most.
Hillsborough Bay and Tampa Bay sit on the west of the city, and the low ground near the water is where the pond against the foundation is deepest in a storm.
A room with a slab floor close to the ground can take water under a door sill or along a slab edge with little warning.
Call any hour and explain what is going on. You get a clear price before any work starts.
Not sure if you're covered? Check your ZIP code.
Pumping standing storm water out of garages, ground floors and lower rooms across Tampa and Hillsborough County, starting with the water that is still moving.
Clearing storm-tide water left by a bay surge, judging its category on site and removing the porous materials it has reached.
Clearing water that has come back up through floor drains and fixtures, containing it, removing what cannot be sanitised and drying the rest.
Bringing wet walls, floors and framing back to normal moisture with air movers and dehumidifiers, timed for how slowly humid air lets water leave a building.
Higher ground can still have a low spot next to the house, a driveway that slopes toward the garage or a yard drain that is full. The entry is found by tracing the water back from the room.
No. The crew reports on the grade, the drain and the downspouts as they affected the entry. Regrading the lot or changing the drainage is for a landscaper or a drainage trade the homeowner hires.
Yes, if it is safe to do so, and they help keep water back for a time. They do not stop water that is already inside, and the cleanup still needs to remove what has come in.
Ground or surface water is often treated differently from sudden water in a policy, and the insurer decides. Photographs of the pond and the entry point help. The insurance claims guide linked from this page sets out the general pattern.
The cleanup covers the inside of the building and the entry point. The outside is reported on, and the work on it is for a trade the homeowner chooses.
The work is between the homeowner and the local company that carries it out, and this line does not warrant any work performed. The disclaimer page explains the arrangement in full.