How to Choose a Water Damage Restoration Company in Riverview, FL

Why this matters in east Hillsborough

Water gets into houses out here a few ways: a supply line under a sink, a water heater that lets go in the garage, a slow leak inside a wall, or summer storm water coming in where it should not. In Riverview and the rest of east Hillsborough, the humidity does not help. Wet materials stay wet, and wet materials that stay wet are how mold starts.

What you do in the first day or two shapes how big the job gets. Here is how to handle it and how to pick who helps.

1. Stop the water and take pictures

Shut off the water at the fixture or the main. If water is near outlets or appliances, turn off the power to that area if you can do it safely. Then, before anything gets moved or thrown out, take photos and video of every wet room, the source if you can see it, and anything damaged. Your insurance company will want them.

2. Call your insurance company early

Start the claim and ask what they need from you. Write down the claim number and the adjuster's name. Keep receipts for anything you spend. Ask questions about coverage directly to your insurer, not to a contractor.

3. Ask how they find water you cannot see

Water runs along framing and under flooring. A restoration company should check moisture beyond the obvious wet spot and be able to tell you where it went. If someone looks only at the stain, keep calling.

Ask them to walk you through what they found, room by room, and to explain what has to come out and why. Wet baseboards, the bottom of drywall, insulation and cabinet bases are common places for water to hide. You should understand the plan before anyone starts removing material, and you should get it in writing for your insurance file.

4. Ask how they will prove it is dry

Structural drying is not a box fan in the doorway. Ask what equipment they use, how often they check readings, and how they decide the job is done. You want to be told, with readings, that the walls and floor are dry before anything gets closed back up.

5. Ask about mold before it is a question

If water sat for a while, ask whether they handle mold remediation and how they would approach it if they find any. It is easier to deal with one company that does the drying and the remediation than to start over with someone new halfway through.

6. Ask who puts it back together

After the drying comes the drywall, baseboards and flooring. Ask whether the company does restoration after the mitigation or whether you will be hiring that separately.

Our pick: Environmental Protective Solutions

Full disclosure: Environmental Protective Solutions is an East of Tampa advertiser, which is why they are named here and others are not.

Environmental Protective Solutions, known as EPS, is the restoration half of Adam Key's operation in Brandon. They handle water damage, mold remediation, structural drying and putting a house back together after a leak or a storm, for homes and businesses across Riverview, Brandon, Valrico, FishHawk, Lithia and Apollo Beach. Adam also runs Fix It Today Plumbing, so if the source is a pipe, one call usually finds the right company.

Water goes where you cannot see it, so the sooner someone looks, the smaller the job.