Stopping the source, removing the water, drying to a measured target and documenting it, for homes across Orlando and Orange County.
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Water damage restoration is the whole job after a leak, flood or storm: stopping the source, removing the water, drying the structure and rebuilding it. In Orlando, the wet season and summer heat lengthen drying, so equipment and daily readings carry most of the work. Phones are answered 24/7 across Orange County.
Most water losses in Orlando are measured in days, not hours, and the first call decides how many of those days there are. The water you can see is the smaller part of the damage. It soaks into drywall at the bottom of a wall, wicks under vinyl or tile into the subfloor, and settles in the cavity behind a baseboard where nobody looks until the paint starts to bubble.
The local calendar sets the pace. NWS Melbourne's 1981-2010 normals put June, July, August and September rainfall at 7.6, 7.3, 7.1 and 6.1 inches, with the wet season usually starting near May 27 and the dry season near October 15. Mean temperatures sit around 81 to 83 F through those months. Warm, wet air holds moisture inside a building, so a leak found in July is usually a longer drying job than the same leak in February.
A restoration job runs in a fixed order: stop the source, remove the standing water, map how far the moisture went, dry the structure against a reference reading and only then rebuild. Each step depends on the one before. Closing a wall over damp framing traps water inside it, and that is how a manageable loss turns into a mold repair.
Do not stand in water near outlets, a plugged-in appliance or the water heater, and do not switch breakers unless the panel is dry and you can reach it without wading. Leave a sagging ceiling closed off until someone has looked at it. If the water came from outside or carries waste, keep children and pets out of the room entirely. Shut the water off at the main if you can do it safely, then call (833) 490-5225 for a technician.
The crew confirms the water is off or isolates the area, then notes whether the loss came from a supply line, an appliance, the roof, a window, outdoor water or a drain. The cause decides how much of the building is wet and what has to come out.
Pumps and extraction vacuums take the bulk water out first. Carpet pad, rugs and the bottom few inches of the wall are then checked, because water held there keeps moving into the structure after the floor looks clear.
Moisture meters and a thermal camera show how far the water travelled under flooring, up the wall and into the next room. A reference reading is taken from a part of the house the water never reached.
Each material is sorted into what can be dried in place and what has to be removed, with the owner's agreement. Air movers and dehumidifiers are placed for the room and the materials in it, and the target for each material is written down before equipment starts.
Readings are logged every day and compared with the reference. Equipment comes out as each area reaches its target, and the photographs, moisture map and removal list are kept as the record for an insurer or adjuster.
Usually several days, and longer for a wet wall, a closed house or a loss that reached the framing. The job ends when the materials reach their target reading, not when the floor feels dry. Summer heat and humidity extend drying, so the schedule is set by the readings.
Surface dryness often arrives within a day or two, while moisture inside framing, plates and insulation can take far longer to leave. That is why readings are taken every day rather than once at the end. A technician who reports a dry floor without a reading has told you about the surface, not the structure.
Each day's readings also show whether the plan is working. A material that is falling steadily is on schedule. One that has stopped falling usually means there is water somewhere the equipment cannot reach, and the crew opens a small access point to look rather than extending the run for another week.
Shut off the water at the fixture or the main if the source is still running, switch off power to any wet circuit you cannot reach safely, and photograph everything before it is moved or touched. Do not start a household fan or dehumidifier in standing water.
Photographs and a short note of what happened are the most useful things you can produce before anyone arrives. They show the water as it was, not as it looked after an hour of cleanup. Note the time you found the water and the time you shut it off, because an insurer will ask.
Move furniture onto dry surfaces, lift rugs off wet floors and keep children and pets out of the affected room. Do not pull up carpet or cut into a wall yourself, because the first moisture readings are taken with the finishes still in place and that record matters later.
Often, yes. Solid wood, sound plaster and most framing can be dried in place. Swollen particleboard, wet fiberglass insulation and carpet pad usually come out, and drywall that has wicked water up from the bottom is often cut back to a clean line.
The test is whether a material can return to its normal moisture content inside the drying window without losing its structure or growing mold. Solid lumber and sound plaster often pass. Particleboard that has swelled at its edges does not, and insulation that has taken on water loses its value as insulation even after it looks dry.
Carpet pad is almost always replaced, because it holds water against the subfloor and keeps releasing it into the room. Carpet itself can sometimes be cleaned and reinstalled if the pad underneath is changed and the subfloor reads dry.
Because humid air carries moisture back into materials that have started to dry. A dehumidifier removes that moisture from the air, while air movers keep it moving off wet surfaces, so both run together and the equipment is sized to the wet area rather than to the visible puddle.
Equipment is sized by the room volume, the number of wet surfaces and how much of the water went into materials rather than onto the floor. A narrow bathroom may need less than a long open living room with wet carpet, but both get the same method. Equipment is moved as areas dry and removed once the readings match the reference, not on a fixed number of days.
A house that has been shut up while the owners were away is a special case. Closed windows and no air conditioning let the interior climb into the same humid range as the outdoors, so the first step is often to get the air moving and the humidity down before the water itself can leave.
Keep the photographs, the first moisture readings, the drying log, the removal list and every invoice in one place. The insurer decides what it covers, and this record is what answers the questions it will ask. Copies matter as much as originals, so keep them with the policy.
Ask for copies of the readings and the drying log at the end of each day or at the end of the job, and keep them with your policy. Hold on to any damaged item until the insurer has seen it or has told you in writing it can be thrown away.
If a claim is delayed or denied, the Florida Department of Financial Services runs a consumer helpline for property claims that gives free help, and the detailed log is what makes a complaint or a mediation request easier to win. The water damage insurance claims guide sets out the wider picture.
A supply line, a water heater or an appliance hose that released water with nothing added to it. These are usually the quickest to dry, but the water still has to come out fast, because it soaks into the materials it touches within hours.
Rain or surface water that came in through a door, a window, a roof opening or the ground at the foundation. The crew treats the water as it arrived and then finds the entry point, since the next storm will bring the same water back if the opening is not closed.
Water that came up a drain or passed through waste. It is handled in protective gear and porous materials it touched are removed rather than dried. The sewage backup cleanup page covers that category in detail.
Orlando losses follow the calendar. The wet season runs from a median start near May 27 to a dry season near October 15, and June through September bring about 6 to 7.5 inches of rain a month on the 1981-2010 normals. A roof or window that leaks in July sends water into a warm house where the air will not draw moisture out of the materials quickly, so the drying takes longer than the same leak would in the dry season.
Low ground and lakes matter too. During Hurricane Ian in September 2022, news reports had Lake Ivanhoe spilling across North Orange and Magnolia avenues and Lake Eola running onto Robinson Street, and the Little Wekiva River flooded near Altamonte Springs. A restoration job that begins in one of those places starts with a question about where the water came from, not only how to remove it. The flood damage cleanup page covers that side.
Housing age varies across the metro. The City of Orlando's 2023 housing summary puts about 68.6 percent of its homes as built after 1980, while the older stock in Pine Hills and College Park dates back further. Older plaster, plank floors and cast-iron drains behave differently when wet, so the drying plan follows the house rather than a template.
A crew is dispatched as fast as one is available, and you approve the estimate before any work starts.
Not sure if you're covered? Check your ZIP code.
Pumping and vacuuming standing water off tile, slab and lower floors across Orlando and Orange County, after a shut-off and a safety check.
Air movers, dehumidifiers and daily readings that dry walls, framing and floors in Orlando homes to a measured reference, not a guess.
Removing floodwater, drying floors and walls, and checking the flood zone and local rules for homes hit by rising water in Orlando.
Rebuilding drywall, trim, flooring and cabinets once a water-damaged building is dry, with licence and permit questions answered first.
This guide publishes no price.
Hurricane and flood water in Orlando can come from rain the ground cannot absorb, lakes that rise over their banks, creeks that spill onto streets, or wind-driven rain entering a damaged roof.
Florida does not issue one license that covers water damage.
Water damage claims turn on how the water got in, whether the loss was sudden or gradual, and what the policy and its endorsements say.
A burst supply pipe can flood a room within minutes, and in Orlando the failures that cause the most trouble are often hidden behind walls or under slabs.
A leak in a condo or an association community rarely stays in one unit.
Orlando's wet season runs through the summer, and its heaviest rain often arrives in short, intense storms.
It can be. Water that has soaked into the wall, the subfloor or the insulation keeps moving for days after the floor looks dry. A call the same day is worth making, because the early readings and the record of what was wet are the most useful part of the job.
If the source is still running, yes, and that comes first. Turn the water off at the fixture or the main, then call. If the valve will not turn or you cannot find it, say so on the call and the technician will advise the next step.
Cleanup is removing the water and the wet material. Restoration is the drying, the monitoring and the repair of the structure back to its prior condition. Most jobs need both, so the first call should cover the whole job.
A local technician handles the drying and the removal. The rebuild is a separate scope with its own licensing question, so ask any company which licence covers the drywall, the flooring and the permits before the work starts. The drywall and flooring repair page explains that split.
By the readings. A reference reading is taken from the same material in an unaffected part of the house, and the wet material is dried until it matches. Surface feel is not enough, because a wall can feel dry while the framing behind it is still wet.
Usually, but the association often has rules on access, shared walls and who repairs what. Ask the board or the property manager early, since some associations want approval before any work starts. The condo and HOA water leaks guide covers those steps.