Emergency Water Extraction
Standing water removed before it soaks into slab, block and flooring - the first step after any failure, and the one humid air makes urgent.
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Water Damage Restoration
Florida Water Damage Restoration
An AC drain line that backed up into the ceiling, rain the wind drove through a window frame, a slab that will not give its water back in August - a single call connects to an independent restoration contractor working your area of Florida.
Water Damage Restoration across Florida
The Panhandle, the First Coast, Central Florida, Tampa Bay and the Gulf Coast, the Space and Treasure Coasts, South Florida and the Keys.
A referral line to independent water damage contractors across Florida, from the Panhandle to the Keys, reached on one number.
- Emergency Water Extraction
- Storm Surge & Tidal Flooding
- Wind-Driven Rain Intrusion
- AC Condensate & Drain Line Leaks
- Slab Leak Water Damage
- Humidity & Moisture Drying
- Sewer & Septic Backflow Cleanup
Why a Florida building stays wet
Water damage here rarely ends when the leak stops. Whether a wet wall or floor recovers depends on the air around it, and four things decide that.
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01
The air outside
Through the humid season the outdoor dewpoint sits near or above 70 degrees, day and night. Air that wet has nowhere to put more water, so a soaked wall cannot hand its moisture to the outside the way it would in a dry climate.
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02
The cold side of the wall
An air-conditioned building is cooler inside than out for most of the year. That makes the inside surfaces the cold side: a supply duct, the back of the drywall, tile on the slab. Any surface below the dewpoint of the air reaching it collects water.
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03
What the materials already hold
Concrete block and a concrete slab take up water and let it go slowly. Where a house is built that way, a wall or floor that looks dry on the surface can still be carrying water deep inside it weeks later.
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Where the season stands
The same leak behaves differently in January and in August. In the cooler, drier months the air will take water back; in the long humid stretch it gives water instead, and a building has to be closed and conditioned to come back to normal.
Water damage services
Houses, condominiums, rentals and businesses: one number serves every town on this site.
Water damage restoration
Storm Surge & Tidal Flooding
Surge and tidal water rise from the ground up and carry salt and silt with them. Anything porous they soaked is treated as contaminated.
Learn MoreWind-Driven Rain Intrusion
Wind pushes rain sideways through window frames, stucco and the base of the wall. The roof can hold and the house still take water.
Learn MoreAC Condensate & Drain Line Leaks
An air conditioner makes water every day it runs. When its drain clogs or its pan cracks, that water goes into the ceiling or the slab.
Learn MoreSlab Leak Water Damage
A line leaking under a concrete floor spreads through the slab before it shows. Lifting flooring or a warm patch is often the first sign.
Learn MoreHumidity & Moisture Drying
When the outdoor air is wetter than the building, opening windows adds water. Drying means a closed building and conditioned air.
Learn MoreSewer & Septic Backflow Cleanup
Heavy rain and a high water table can push sewage back through the lowest drain in the building. Clear or murky, it is handled as sewage.
Learn MoreFind your Florida town
161 Florida cities and towns each have a page of their own. Start typing to find the one you need.
Largest cities covered
Town not listed? The number works statewide. Wherever the building is in Florida, the call is routed to an independent contractor working near it, whatever the source of the water.
What one call reaches
Contractors across the whole state
Florida runs from Panhandle pine country to the Keys, and its buildings run from raised wood houses to block on slab to high-rise condominiums. An independent local contractor who works a given area knows its buildings and its season.
Humidity taken as part of the job
A wet building in the humid months is not left with the windows open. Contractors routed through this line close it up and condition the air, because outside air in that season adds water rather than taking it away.
Storm water told apart
Rain driven through a wall by wind and surge water that came in at ground level are different water. The contractor who visits treats them differently, starting with what each one carried in.
The slow leaks found too
Not every loss here is a storm. A condensate line that has been dripping into a ceiling for a month, or a supply line under a slab, does its damage quietly. Those are handled with the same seriousness.
Found water? Call now
A single free call connects to an independent contractor who works your part of Florida - no form, no obligation.
The call is free, and calling commits nobody to booking any work.
Call when you find it
Every town on this site shares one referral number. Calling is free, nothing has to be filled in, and nobody is committed to anything.
(833) 243-4415What to have ready
- The line answers day and night, and routing to a contractor follows local coverage and demand.
- If water is still coming in, close the main shutoff, or switch the air handler off if the water is coming from it, before calling.
- Say where the water came from if you know: the AC, a pipe, the roof, a window, or water that rose from outside.
- This site is a directory: every term of the work is agreed between the property owner and the contractor.
Questions about humidity, storms and slow leaks
Why is my ceiling wet under the air conditioner?
Usually the condensate. An air conditioner makes water from the air it cools, and that water drains through a pan and a small line. A clogged line or a cracked pan sends it into the ceiling instead. Switching the system off stops the water until the drain is cleared.
Why won't the wall dry out?
Often because the air around it is too wet to take the water back. In the humid months the outdoor dewpoint stays near or above 70 degrees, and block and concrete release water slowly. A wall dries in a closed, conditioned building, not with the windows open.
Should I open the windows to dry the house out?
Not in the humid months. Outdoor air then usually holds more water than the air indoors, so opening up adds moisture. Drying works with the building closed and the air conditioned or dehumidified.
What is dewpoint, and why does it matter here?
The temperature at which water in the air condenses on a surface. When the outdoor dewpoint is above 70 degrees, anything cooler than 70 - an air-conditioned wall, a duct, a cold water line - collects water from the air.
The roof did not leak, so how did rain get in?
Through the walls. Strong wind drives rain sideways through window and slider frames, stucco cracks, the joint at the base of the wall and around soffits. Water can enter that way with every shingle still in place.
Is surge water different from rain that came in?
Yes. Surge and flood water rise from outside and carry salt, soil and whatever they crossed, so porous material they soaked is treated as contaminated. Rain driven through a wall is cleaner water, though it still has to be found and dried.
How do I know if there is a leak under the slab?
Common signs are a warm patch of floor over a hot water line, flooring that lifts or cups, a running water meter with every fixture off, or a bill that jumps without a reason.
Why does sewage come up after heavy rain?
Where the ground is saturated and the water table is high, septic systems drain slowly, and sewer systems can be overwhelmed. Water then comes back up through the lowest drain in the building. Clear or not, it is treated as sewage.
Should the AC stay on in an empty house?
Set higher, but running. With the cooling off, a closed house takes on the outdoor humidity for as long as it sits. With it running, the system keeps pulling water out of the air.
Is there a charge for calling, or any commitment?
No. Calling is free and there is no form. The number connects to a referral line for independent local contractors, and any agreement or warranty is made between the property owner and the contractor they pick.
What Florida air does to a building's water
Dewpoint, not temperature
Dewpoint is the temperature at which the water in the air starts landing on surfaces. It says how much water the air holds far better than the thermometer does. When it is above 70 degrees, any surface cooler than 70 - an air-conditioned wall, a duct, a cold water line - is below it and collects water from the air.
The inside of the house is the cold side
In a cold climate a house loses heat outward and water condenses where the warm inside meets the cold outside. In a Florida summer the direction reverses: the air conditioning makes the interior the cold side, and humid outdoor air moving into the walls meets the cooler interior surfaces from behind.
Condensate is water the house makes every day
An air conditioner pulls water out of the air it cools, and in the humid season that runs to gallons a day. It drains through a pan and a small line. When the line clogs or the pan cracks, that water goes into the ceiling, the closet or the slab, quietly and every day the system runs.
Block and slab hold water
Concrete block walls and concrete slabs are common across much of the state. Both take water up readily and release it slowly. After a leak, the surface can read dry while the block or the slab beneath tile and flooring still holds water that will keep coming back to the surface.
Wind-driven rain
A storm with strong wind pushes rain sideways and upward: through window and slider frames, at the joint where a wall meets the slab, through stucco cracks and around soffits. The roof can be intact and the house still wet, because the water came through the walls.
Surge water is a different water
Storm surge and tidal flooding bring salt water in from the ground up, along with everything it crossed on the way. It is not the same as rain that came through a wall, and it is not handled the same way: anything porous it soaked is treated as contaminated, and salt left in materials keeps drawing water out of the air.
Why fans and open windows can make it worse
In the humid months, outdoor air is often wetter than the air inside the building. Opening windows and running fans to dry a room brings in more water than it carries out. Drying in that season means a closed building and conditioned air.
The water table is close
In much of the state the ground water sits close to the surface, and it rises in the wet months. That affects how a slab and the ground under it give up water, and in some areas how septic systems and sewer lines drain after heavy rain.
Keeping a building dry through the humid season
Most of the slow water damage in Florida comes from the air and the cooling system rather than from a burst pipe. A few habits decide whether a building stays dry through the long humid stretch.
Keep the condensate line clear
The small line from the air handler carries water every day the system runs. A line that clogs backs water into the pan, and a pan that overflows or cracks puts it into whatever is below. A wet spot on the ceiling under the air handler is the usual first sign.
Do not switch the cooling off and leave
A closed house with the cooling off soaks up the outdoor humidity for as long as nobody is there. A thermostat set higher but left running keeps taking water out of the air.
Watch the cold surfaces
Sweating ducts, damp spots around supply registers, and water on the floor near a cold line are the air's water landing on surfaces below its dewpoint. They point to where the building is collecting water.
Know where the water stops
The main shutoff, and the switch for the air handler. Whoever is in the building should know both, because they are what limits how much water a failure can release.
After a storm: rain, wind and surge
The first question after a storm is which water came in, because rain driven through a wall and surge water that rose from outside are handled differently.
Find where the water came from
Water at the top of a wall or around a window points to wind-driven rain. Water that rose evenly from the floor, with a line on the walls, points to flooding from outside. The two can arrive in the same storm.
Treat outside water as contaminated
Surge and flood water carry salt, soil and whatever else they crossed. Anything porous it soaked - drywall, insulation, carpet - is treated as contaminated, not simply wet.
Close the building before drying it
Once the water has stopped coming in, a building dries better closed and conditioned than open to wet outdoor air. If the power is out, that is the first thing the contractor needs to know.
Photograph before anything is moved
The water line on the walls, the wet areas and the damaged contents. A record made before cleanup starts shows what the water reached.
The slow leaks: AC, slab and supply lines
Some of the most expensive water in a Florida building arrives a cupful at a time. These losses are found late because nothing about them looks like a flood.
A stain that grows
A ceiling stain under the air handler, a baseboard that swells, grout that stays dark. Each points to water arriving slowly from one place.
A warm spot or a running meter
A hot water line leaking under a slab can warm a patch of floor. A water meter that moves with every fixture off says water is going somewhere.
Flooring that lifts or cups
Wood and laminate over a slab take up water from below and lift or cup. Tile can loosen. On a slab, that usually means water in or under the concrete, not on top of it.
Say how long it has been happening
When the stain first appeared, when the system was last serviced, when the water bill rose. Those dates tell the contractor how long the water has been in the building.