These are the questions Los Angeles County homeowners ask most often when they call. Every answer starts with the answer.
Shut off the water at the house valve or the meter if it is safe to reach. If an outlet in a room got wet, leave that room's breaker off. Move what you can carry out of the wet area and take photos of everything before anything is discarded. Then leave the wet materials alone.
A warm spot on the floor, a water bill that jumped, the sound of running water with every fixture off, or moisture at the base of a wall with no visible source. Postwar slab homes across Los Angeles carry supply lines under the concrete, and leak detection finds the line before anyone cuts the floor.
The surface is dry; the materials under it usually are not. Drywall, subfloor, and framing hold moisture long after the surface feels dry. The provider meters the drywall and subfloor, sets air movers and dehumidifiers, and leaves them running until each material reads at its target. In a stucco-over-frame LA house, structural drying is what stops a damp wall cavity from turning into a mold job later.
Your adjuster decides what the policy pays, and nobody on this phone line can tell you that in advance. Many policies cover sudden losses such as a burst pipe or a failed water heater, while gradual leaks and seepage often are excluded and mold is frequently capped. Have the crew hand you photos, moisture readings, and a line-item scope you can pass along to the adjuster.
Sometimes. Cupped hardwood that is caught early can often be dried with floor-drying mats before it buckles. Floors that have been wet for weeks or that sat under sewage usually cannot. The provider evaluates the floor before anyone assumes it has to come out.
The HOA declaration decides. In most Los Angeles condos the association handles common elements and the unit owner handles finishes inside the unit, but the split varies. Document the damage, notify the association in writing, and let the ceiling repair crew record where the water came from.
Sewage is Category 3 water and it should not be handled with household cleaners and a fan. Keep children and pets out of the area and keep the door closed. A sewage cleanup crew works in protective gear, pulls out the carpet, pad, and other porous materials the water reached, and disinfects the hard surfaces that remain.
Smoke film settles on every surface, inside ducts, and into fabric, and ash is corrosive to metal and electronics. Wildfire smoke damage cleanup is a distinct service from fire rebuild and is handled by the same kind of provider.
No permit is needed for the drying and cleanup phase. Replacing drywall, plumbing, or electrical usually does. Inside the City of Los Angeles that is the Department of Building and Safety, and each incorporated city in the county has its own building department. If the rebuild calls for a permit, pulling it is the provider's job.
We do not quote prices, and a provider cannot either until they have taken readings in the home. In a Los Angeles slab house the scope turns on the source of the water, the number of days it sat under the floor or in the wall, and which materials it soaked before anyone noticed. Get that scope in writing before the first wall is opened.
Providers represent their own licensing and insurance. You can verify any California contractor at cslb.ca.gov before hiring. While you are at it, request the provider's certificate of insurance.
We serve Los Angeles and the Valley neighborhoods, Long Beach, Glendale, Pasadena, Burbank, Santa Monica, Torrance, the Gateway cities, and the San Gabriel Valley. See the full list of communities.
Call (213) 513-2640. Tell the person who answers where the water started, which rooms are wet, and whether it is still coming in.