What causes water damage in San Antonio homes?
Most of the calls we plan for here come from five sources.
- Burst pipes. Supply lines under sinks, behind toilets and in walls are under pressure all day. When one splits, it runs until someone shuts off the water.
- Freeze breaks. Hard freezes are rare here, but they hit hard. During Winter Storm Uri in February 2021, the city's water system warned of a multitude of burst pipes once temperatures climbed back above freezing. Local water lines often run only about 18 inches underground, and shallow pipes freeze more easily.
- Slab leaks. Much of Bexar County sits on clay that swells when it is wet and shrinks when it dries. That ground movement stresses pipes under a slab, the same way drought pushes water main breaks up across the city.
- Roof and hail leaks. Spring hail can crack shingles without anyone noticing. The water shows up later, in the attic insulation and the ceiling, at the next heavy rain.
- Appliance leaks. Water heaters, washing machine hoses, dishwashers, ice makers and air conditioner drain lines can all leak slowly for days before anyone sees it.
Whatever the source, the job is the same: stop the water, find every place it reached, and dry the structure until the readings say it is done.
Why does drying take a closed house here?
From about April to the end of October, San Antonio air is muggy. Opening the windows and running fans moves that humid air into the house, and wet drywall, carpet pad and wood framing have nowhere to give their water up to.
So we dry with the house closed up. Dehumidifiers pull water out of the air, air movers push dry air across wet surfaces, and we take moisture readings each visit until the numbers are back to normal. Wet materials can start growing mold within a day or two, so getting the equipment running early is often the difference between drying a floor and replacing it.
Slab homes and older pier-and-beam homes hold water differently
Newer homes across the San Antonio area mostly sit on a concrete slab. Water that lands on the floor spreads sideways under carpet, laminate and vinyl plank, then wicks up into baseboards and the bottom of the drywall. The carpet can feel dry on top while the pad underneath is soaked.
Older neighborhoods near downtown have more pier-and-beam homes, with a crawl space under the floor and pipes that are more exposed to cold. Water from above can collect under those floors, out of sight. In both cases we measure instead of guessing, so nothing gets sealed back up wet.
What happens when we get there?
We make sure the water is stopped and the space is safe to work in. Then we map the wet areas with moisture readings and take photos before anything moves.
Standing water and soaked carpet pad come out first. Anything that cannot be dried, like swollen particle board or saturated pad, is removed carefully, and we show you why. Then we set up dehumidifiers and air movers sized for the space, and come back to check readings until every area is dry.
We provide moisture readings, photos and a detailed estimate for your claim. See how insurance works with us.
How much does water damage restoration cost?
We never price restoration from a list, because no two jobs are the same. Every job starts with a free inspection and an itemized estimate. What drives the cost:
- The water category. Clean water from a supply line is handled differently from gray water out of a washer or contaminated water from a sewer backup or a flood.
- The square footage that got wet, on every floor it reached.
- The materials. Tile on a slab dries differently from carpet and pad, hardwood or drywall with insulation behind it.
- Drying time. How long the equipment has to run until the readings are back to normal.
When the drying is done, we can finish with a carpet cleaning so the room feels like yours again.