What a homeowner actually needs to know
Five pages, each answering a question people ask us on the phone. No prices, no promises we cannot keep, and we say where our scope stops as plainly as what it covers.
What to do in the first hour of a water leak
What should you do first when water is coming into your house?
In the first hour of a water leak, shut off the water at the fixture or at the main, cut power to the wet area at the breaker only if you can reach the panel while standing somewhere dry, photograph everything before you move it, then get standing water and wet soft materials off the floor and call a restoration contractor.
Read it → Homeowner guideHow a water damage insurance claim actually works
Does homeowners insurance cover water damage, and how does the claim run?
Homeowners insurance in Washington generally covers sudden and accidental water damage, such as a burst supply line or a failed water heater, and generally excludes damage from long-term seepage, poor maintenance, groundwater and surface flooding. Coverage is decided by your policy and your adjuster, not by the contractor doing the work.
Read it → ExplainerMitigation, restoration and reconstruction: the difference
What is the difference between water mitigation, restoration and reconstruction?
Water mitigation is the emergency work that stops the damage spreading: shutting off and repairing the source, extracting water, removing unsalvageable material and drying the structure. Reconstruction is rebuilding what was removed. Restoration is the umbrella term for the whole process from the leak to the finished room.
Read it → Local requirementAsbestos surveys and water damage in older King County homes
Why does water damage work in an older house need an asbestos survey first?
In King County, a survey for asbestos-containing material is required before renovation or demolition work disturbs material in most structures built before 1991, which includes cutting drywall or lifting flooring during a water damage job. The requirement is enforced by the Puget Sound Clean Air Agency.
Read it → How we are differentWhy the plumber and the restoration crew should be one company
Can a restoration company repair the pipe that caused the water damage?
A restoration contractor is not licensed to repair the plumbing failure that caused a water loss, and a plumbing contractor has no equipment to dry the building afterward. B-Dub Innovations, Inc. holds both a Washington plumbing contractor licence and a Washington general contractor registration under UBI 605495157, which is why the repair, the drying and the rebuild are a single scope of work.
Read it →Why these pages exist
Almost nobody shopping for a restoration company knows what they are buying, which is why the industry gets away with so much vagueness. The three things that catch homeowners out are the same every time: that the company drying the house usually cannot repair the pipe that caused it, that the dry-out and the rebuild are two separate stages on the claim, and that cutting into a pre-1991 house has a survey requirement attached to it.
So those are written down here, along with what to do in the first hour and what a policy normally covers. If something on these pages is outside what we do, it says so. Mold remediation, removal, treatment and testing are not services we offer, and neither is fire or smoke damage work.
Registered Washington general contractor and licensed plumbing contractor, both under UBI 605495157. Both registrations are verifiable by UBI with the Washington State Department of Labor & Industries.
Water where it should not be?
Water damage does not wait for business hours. Call and we will get moving.