Water Damage Restoration in Houston, TX

Local water damage help when you need it

Water damage in Houston rarely shows up at a good time. A tropical storm stalls overhead and the street fills past the curb. An attic AC drain pan overflows in August and the ceiling below starts to sag. A freeze splits a pipe in an outside wall, and the flooding starts when it thaws. In this heat and humidity, a wet house does not dry out on its own. It grows mold, often within 24 to 48 hours.

One call to (817) 660-4380 connects you with an experienced local restoration crew that handles the whole job: emergency water extraction, drying, mold remediation in Houston, flood damage cleanup and the repairs that put drywall, floors and paint back. You get upfront pricing before work starts, and you deal with one crew from the first pump-out to the final repair. Want the details first? Read how water damage restoration in Houston works.

Why Houston homes get water damage

Houston earned the name Bayou City. The land is flat, low and close to the Gulf, and Harris County drains through 22 separate watersheds. When a slow storm parks over the area, the water has nowhere quick to go. Harvey showed that in 2017. It stalled over Harris County for four days, and rain totals across the county ran from 25 to 47 inches. The Harris County Flood Control District first estimated that 136,000 homes were damaged. Tropical Storm Allison dropped up to 37 inches over five days in 2001, and the Memorial Day flood of 2015 and the Tax Day flood of 2016 hit many of the same streets again.

Where you live changes how the water shows up. In Meyerland (77096), Brays Bayou runs right through the neighborhood. Its 1950s and 1960s ranch homes took water in the Memorial Day flood and again in Harvey, and many owners have since raised or rebuilt. In Memorial (77024 and 77079, which takes in much of the Energy Corridor), the risk comes from Buffalo Bayou and the Addicks and Barker reservoirs. During Harvey, the Army Corps of Engineers raised releases into the bayou far past normal, and low streets near Terry Hershey Park and in the Memorial Villages flooded. Kingwood (77339 and 77345) sits along the San Jacinto River and flooded badly that year when the river rose.

The older homes inside the Loop bring different problems. The Heights (77008) and Montrose (77006) are full of early 1900s bungalows and Victorian houses, many on pier and beam. Water and damp air collect in the crawl space, and old galvanized supply lines and cast iron drains wear out. Newer two-story homes and townhomes all over the city hide leaks behind walls and under upstairs bathrooms, where a slow drip can run for weeks before a stain shows on the ceiling below. Down in Clear Lake (77058), homes near Clear Creek and Galveston Bay take tropical rain straight off the Gulf.

The weather between storms matters too. Houston averages about 52 inches of rain a year at Bush Intercontinental, and humidity runs over 90 percent most mornings. Water that would dry in a few days somewhere else just sits in the drywall and slab here. That is why mold grows so fast after even a small leak, and why a proper job runs commercial dehumidifiers and checks the structure with a moisture meter before anyone calls it dry.

The ground plays a part as well. Much of the area sits on expansive clay, the gumbo soil locals know well. It swells after rain and shrinks in a dry summer, and that movement shifts slab foundations and stresses the water lines that run under them. A slab leak can run for weeks before anyone notices a warm spot on the tile, a damp patch of carpet near an inside wall or a water bill that jumps for no reason. If that sounds familiar, read about burst pipe and leak water removal or call and describe what you see.