Frequently Asked Questions

Water and flood damage, fire and smoke cleanup, mold remediation, sewage backups, storm damage, board-up and roof tarping, biohazard cleanup, pack-out and contents cleaning, and full reconstruction. See every service on our services page.

Yes. The emergency line at (800) 719-4808 is answered by a person 24 hours a day, 365 days a year, and crews are dispatched around the clock, including nights, weekends and holidays.

In most of our service areas a crew is on site within about 45 minutes. Outlying areas can take a little longer, and the dispatcher gives you an arrival time on the phone.

Yes. We inspect the damage, take moisture readings and photos, and give you a written scope at no charge before any work starts.

Southern California from Ventura County to San Diego, Greater Seattle, Miami-Dade and Broward in Florida, and the Las Vegas Valley. Find your nearest office on our locations page.

Only if it's safe. Shut off the water or power to the affected area if you can, take photos, and move small valuables out of the way. Don't scrub soot, vacuum standing water with a household vacuum or disturb mold. That usually spreads the damage.

One company handles the whole job: the emergency visit, drying or cleanup, the insurance paperwork and the rebuild. You keep one project lead from start to finish instead of juggling separate contractors.

No. You can choose your own restoration contractor. Your insurer may suggest a preferred vendor, but the choice is yours. We work with all major carriers either way.

Yes. We document the loss, send the scope and photos to your adjuster and can bill your insurer for covered work. You pay your deductible and anything your policy doesn't cover. More on our insurance billing page.

Usually, if the damage was sudden and accidental, like a burst pipe or a failed appliance. Flooding from outside the home normally needs separate flood insurance, and slow leaks are often excluded. Every policy is different, so check yours or ask us to walk through it with you.

It depends on the cause. Mold that follows a covered event, like a burst pipe, is often included in that claim. Mold from long-term humidity or an ignored leak usually is not, and many policies cap mold coverage at a lower limit.

Photos, moisture readings, thermal images, drying logs and a line-item scope of work. For fire losses we also prepare an inventory of items that cannot be saved.

It means putting the property back the way it was before the damage happened: same layout, comparable materials and finishes. That is the standard most insurance policies pay to restore.

Right away. Water spreads into drywall, subfloors and insulation within hours, and mold can start growing on damp materials in 24 to 48 hours. The sooner drying starts, the less has to be torn out.

Category 1 is clean water, like a supply line. Category 2 is gray water, like a washing machine overflow. Category 3 is black water: sewage or flood water from outside. The category decides what can be dried and what has to be removed.

Most structures dry in three to five days once the right equipment is running. We take moisture readings every day and leave the equipment in place until every area reaches its dry standard.

Yes, if moisture is left behind. That is why we measure inside walls and under floors, not just the surface, and treat affected areas with an antimicrobial before closing anything up.

We extract standing water first, then run air movers to pull moisture out of materials and dehumidifiers to take it out of the air. Moisture meters and thermal cameras show where water is hiding.

Make sure everyone is safe and wait until the fire department clears you to go back in. Keep foot traffic low, don't wipe soot off walls or furniture, and don't use electrical fixtures until they're checked. Then call us for an inspection.

Firefighting puts a lot of water into the house. It soaks drywall, insulation and flooring, and can lead to mold within a day or two, so water extraction is often our first step on a fire job.

We remove the soot that holds the odor, clean the HVAC system so it stops spreading smell around the house, and treat what is left with air scrubbers, thermal fogging or hydroxyl generators, depending on the materials.

Often, yes. Furniture, electronics, clothing, documents and photos can usually be cleaned. We pack them out, clean them and store them until the house is ready. See contents restoration.

We advise against it. Soot is oily and acidic, so wiping it usually smears it deeper into paint and fabric. It needs the right cleaning products and HEPA equipment to come off cleanly.

A musty smell that keeps coming back, dark spots on walls or ceilings, peeling paint, warped flooring or water stains. Mold often grows out of sight behind walls, under sinks and in crawl spaces.

We inspect with moisture meters and thermal cameras, then take air samples inside and outside, and surface samples where growth is visible. After remediation, we test again to confirm spore levels are back to normal.

Removal means cleaning off the mold you can see. Remediation contains the area, removes the affected materials, treats the surfaces, fixes the moisture problem that caused it and tests afterward so it does not come back.

A small spot on tile or glass, yes. For anything larger than about ten square feet, anything on drywall or insulation, or any mold you can smell but not see, call a professional. Disturbing it spreads spores through the house.

Not if the moisture source is fixed. We find and correct the leak or humidity problem behind the growth, treat the area and confirm it with post-remediation testing.

A small area like one bathroom usually takes one to two days. A full room or crawl space takes three to five days, and larger jobs with repairs can run a week or more.

Remediation removes the problem: water, mold, smoke or contamination. Restoration puts the property back together afterward with drywall, flooring, paint and finish work. We do both.

A small water loss can be dried and repaired in about a week. Larger fire or water jobs with rebuilding can take several weeks to a few months. You get a timeline after the inspection and updates as the work moves.

We can pack them up, inventory them, clean what needs cleaning and keep them in climate-controlled storage until the work is done, then move them back in. See pack-out and storage.

We photograph and list them with a description and approximate age for your insurance claim before anything is thrown away.

No. We are a licensed contractor, so the same team that handles the cleanup does the reconstruction, and nothing gets lost between companies.

Yes, 24/7. We secure broken windows, doors and walls and tarp damaged roofs to keep weather and intruders out. See board-up and roof tarping.

Our work follows IICRC standards, including S500 for water damage and S520 for mold, with OSHA safety practices on every job. We use moisture meters, thermal imaging, HEPA air filtration and commercial drying equipment.