These are the questions homeowners in Boston, Cambridge, Somerville, and Quincy ask most often when they call. Every answer starts with the answer.
Shut off the water at the main valve in the basement if you can reach it safely. Keep power off to any room with wet outlets or a wet panel. Carry what you can up off the wet floor, take photos of everything before it goes to the curb, and leave the wet plaster and paneling alone.
Fieldstone and brick foundations let water through the mortar joints when the ground around them is saturated, and older neighborhoods run on combined sewers that back up when a storm overloads them. Basement flooding cleanup handles the water; the source still needs a fix.
A frozen pipe does not leak until it thaws, so the water may have run for hours or days before you saw it. Say when you last knew the house was dry. Frozen pipe cleanup crews meter the outside wall and the rooms below the split, not just the puddle.
Usually not. Plaster, lath, subfloor, and framing hold moisture long after the surface feels dry, and a stone cellar barely dries at all in a Boston summer. The provider meters the plaster and framing, sets air movers and dehumidifiers, and keeps them running until each material reads at its target. That is structural drying.
The condo documents or the lease decide. In a Boston condo the association usually handles common pipes and the unit owner handles finishes inside the unit, but the split varies. Notify the association or landlord in writing and let the ceiling repair crew record where the water came from.
Sewage is Category 3 water and should not be handled with a mop and a fan. Keep children and pets out of the basement and stop running water in the house. Sewage cleanup crews wear protective gear, remove porous materials that touched the water, and disinfect what stays.
Sometimes. Cupped oak or pine that is caught within a day or two can often be dried with floor mats. Floors that sat wet for a week or that were under sewage usually cannot. The provider meters the floor before anyone assumes it has to come out.
What your policy pays is a question for your insurer, not for anyone on this site. Many policies cover sudden losses such as a burst pipe or a failed water heater, while sewer backup and groundwater seepage often need a rider and gradual leaks are excluded. Have the crew hand you photos, the moisture readings, and an itemized scope so your adjuster has the file.
Get the water off the floor first, then deal with the pump. Pumping the basement out does not dry the bottom of the finished walls or the carpet pad. Sump pump failure cleanup covers the drying, and a plumber or electrician sorts out why the pump stopped.
Drying and cleanup do not need one. Replacing plaster, plumbing, or wiring usually does. Inside the city that is Boston Inspectional Services, and Cambridge, Somerville, Quincy, and the other inner-ring cities each run their own building desk. The provider handles permits when the rebuild calls for them.
We do not quote prices, and a provider cannot either until they have taken readings in the house. Where the water came from, how many hours it sat, and which materials it reached all set the scope. Get that scope in writing before the first air mover is plugged in.
Providers represent their own licensing and insurance. Massachusetts requires a Home Improvement Contractor registration for residential repair work, and you can look one up on the state's website before hiring. A certificate of insurance belongs in the same folder.
Boston and its neighborhoods from Charlestown to Hyde Park, plus Cambridge, Somerville, Medford, Malden, Everett, Chelsea, Revere, Winthrop, Quincy, and Weymouth. See the full list of nearby communities.
Call (857) 524-9927 now and tell us what you see: where the water started, which floors are wet, and whether it is still coming in.