Restoration for Spokane properties that have flooded before, with a written record of each water event for the next repair.
Fastest: call (833) 490-5225. Or send this and we call you back.
Repeat flood damage restoration is the cleanup and drying of a property that has taken water in more than one event. Spokane County's hazard mitigation plan lists flood declarations in 1956 and 1957, and the February 1996 flood reached the county. Calls are answered 24/7.
A property that has flooded before does not start from a clean slate. Old repairs can hide moisture, older finishes may have been replaced over a stain, and the framing may carry marks from an earlier event. Restoration on a repeat property starts with the history of the water as much as the water in the house today.
Spokane County's hazard mitigation plan lists flood declarations in 1956 and 1957, and the February 1996 flood affected Spokane County along with 23 other Washington counties. A property in those reaches has a long record behind it. If your home has taken water before, call (833) 490-5225. The line is answered at any hour, and a local technician is sent as soon as one is free.
Do not open an old wall or floor that may have held water for years without a plan. Old insulation, rot and mold can be present behind finishes, and disturbing them can release dust and spores into the air. Wear a mask and gloves when opening older areas, keep the work area closed off and do not sweep dry debris. If you smell a strong musty odor in a closed space, leave it closed and call for an assessment before entering.
The technician asks which earlier floods you remember, what was repaired and when, and whether any insurance claim or record exists. That history shapes where the moisture is most likely to be hiding.
The current water is removed and recorded, and the old marks are noted on the walls, the framing and the floor. A repair that was made over a damp subfloor is a common finding and is checked with meters.
Where a previous repair sits over framing or a subfloor that may still hold moisture, a small opening is made so the crew can read the material. Nothing is opened without a reason the crew can explain.
Drying covers the new water and the older damp areas together, and the readings are logged each day. The plan is adjusted if an older area is slower to dry than the new one.
The crew gives you a written record of each event: the water level, the materials removed, the readings and the photographs. That record is what the next contractor and the next insurer will need.
A repair fixes the damage from one event, but it does not change the water route into the building. Ground water, drains and the slope of the lot all decide where water goes in the next event, so a repaired house can flood at the same spot again.
The repair may be sound and still leave the cause in place. A new floor over a wall that still wicks water will cup again. A new wall board over a cavity that was never dried will hold the same moisture. The first thing a repeat-flood crew asks is what changed between the two events, and what did not.
The Spokane County hazard mitigation plan describes flood declarations in 1956 and 1957, which shows that flooding in the county is not a single-event story. Properties in the flood-prone reaches have to plan for the next high water as well as repair the last one.
A written record lists each event, the water level, the materials removed, the drying readings and the photographs. The insurer, the repair contractor and any future buyer can use it to see what happened and where, without repeating the survey.
The record is the most useful document a property owner can hold after a flood. It shows where the water reached, which materials were removed, and which areas were dried to target. Without it, a second event starts from guesswork about the first.
Keep the record with the house papers, along with the insurer's correspondence and any repair receipts. A contractor who opens a wall after a second flood will want to see what was dried after the first one.
The number of older repairs that must be opened, the depth of the new water, how many floors and rooms it reached, and how long the drying runs all change the work. The price is explained and approved on site before any equipment is placed or any opening is made.
A repeat property with one older repair that reads dry takes a short visit. A property where the older repairs must be opened, read and dried before the new work can start takes longer, and the crew explains which openings are needed and why before they are made.
The condition of the older structure matters too. Framing that was never dried after an earlier event may need to come out, and that is a decision the crew makes with you and records. The quote follows that record, not a general figure.
Not completely, but the route the water takes can often be reduced. Drainage, grading, window wells, sump capacity and the lowest floor's finishes are the usual places to look. The crew records the route, and a qualified contractor reviews the options.
Clear the drains, the window wells and the gutters before the wet season, and check that the sump discharges well away from the house. Those are simple steps a homeowner can take, and they cost little compared with a repeat cleanup.
Bigger changes, such as raising a floor, adding a drain or changing the grade, are work for a qualified contractor, and they depend on the house and the site. The water record tells that contractor where the water came in before, which is the starting point for any of those choices.
Tell your insurer about any earlier event you know of, and do not hide one when you apply for a policy or make a claim. The Washington Office of the Insurance Commissioner handles consumer complaints about how claims are handled, and the insurer decides what it covers.
A prior flood can affect a policy's terms and a new claim's review, so an honest history is in your interest. If you do not know whether a previous event was recorded, ask the insurer or the previous owner, and keep any letter you receive.
The crew does not decide coverage. It records the events it can see and the marks it finds, and the insurer and your own policy decide what applies. The written record is there to make that conversation accurate.
The new water is treated like any other flood, but the crew also reads the areas that were repaired after the older one. Old repairs often sit over framing that never fully dried, and that moisture can return with the new water. The readings decide what must be opened.
When the same line of water appears on the basement wall after each event, the water is following the same route. The crew measures the line, notes the height and the wall, and records the path so a drainage or grading contractor can review the route.
If a previous flood led to a claim, the earlier records are useful to the crew and to the insurer. The crew does not judge the earlier work, but it notes what was repaired and where, so the new visit does not repeat or miss anything.
Homes on low ground near the river or the creeks are the most likely to take water again. The drying and the record focus on the lowest floor and the entries, and the crew explains the level at which the next high water could reach the house.
Spokane's floodplain has a documented history. The county hazard mitigation plan lists flood declarations in 1956 and 1957, the Spokane County Flood Insurance Study names the 1933 and 1894 floods as the largest on record, and the February 1996 flood affected Spokane County among 24 Washington counties.
The January 1997 Latah Creek flood is recorded in a regional news retrospective published in 2008, and it adds one more event to the local record. A property near Latah Creek or the creeks that feed it has a long history of high water behind it.
A repeat-flood property in Spokane is often one where the same lower level has taken water from the river, from the creeks and from snowmelt in different years. The crew treats each event as part of one water history and records the lowest point of the building as the place to check first.
Tell us what's happening and we'll tell you honestly whether it's a quick fix, and what repeat flood damage restoration should cost.
Not sure if you're covered? Check your ZIP code.
Removal, cleanup and drying for Spokane homes and businesses flooded by high water on the Spokane River and its tributaries.
Drying, removal of wet materials and a clear check for mold after water damage in Spokane homes and basements.
Controlled removal of wet wallboard in Spokane homes so the cavity behind it can dry and be checked.
Water removal and drying for Spokane crawl spaces, joists and subfloors that take in ground water after snowmelt, rain or a flood.
A river crest is the highest water level a gage records during a rise.
Spokane County's hazard mitigation plan lists flood declarations in 1956 and 1957, and the February 1996 flood reached the county among 24 Washington counties.
Not necessarily. A repair can be sound for one event and still sit in a water route that the next event uses. The crew reads both the new water and the older repairs, and records what it finds without judging the earlier work.
Tell the crew what you know. The survey looks for old marks, new finishes and patched areas, and the readings show where moisture is still held. A missing history is noted in the record, so the next visit is not based on a guess.
Only where the readings or the marks show moisture is still present, and only with a reason the crew explains before the opening is made. Opening a repaired wall for no reason would add cost and damage, so the crew does not do it.
The honest answer is that it depends on the site, the drainage and the weather. The county record shows repeated flood declarations, so a property in a flood-prone reach should plan for the next event rather than assume the last one was the final one.
A qualified drainage or grading contractor, chosen by you, and where the house has a sump, a plumber for the pump. The crew's water record gives that contractor a starting point, but the design of any drainage change is their work.
Yes, the honest course is to disclose it and to give the buyer the written record. A prior flood affects the property's value and its insurance, and the record is the most useful way to explain what happened and what was done.