Cleanup and drying after heavy rain and storm runoff gets into a Springfield home, with the crew working through the basement, floors and walls.
Fastest: call (833) 490-5225. Or send this and we call you back.
Storm water damage cleanup removes standing water and soaked materials after heavy rain or storm runoff gets into a building, then dries what is left and checks it with moisture readings. In Springfield it often means basements, floor drains and ground-level openings, and in the older city it can mean sewer water coming up through a drain.
Slow summer storms are the pattern that matters here. Thunderstorms can sit over Clark County long enough to drop heavy rain on ground that is already saturated, and the National Weather Service in Wilmington has issued flash flood warnings covering Clark County and Springfield in past events. Its warnings describe flooding of small creeks and streams, urban areas, highways, streets and underpasses, and that runoff is what finds its way into a Springfield basement.
Storm water does not always enter the same way. In the older parts of the city, a combined sewer carries both sewage and stormwater in the same pipes, so a long, heavy rain can push water back up through a basement floor drain even when the house has no leak of its own. Outside the city, runoff collects on low ground, pools against the foundation and seeps through stone or block walls. The floor drain is often the first clue about which of these happened.
Water that came in from outside is a different job from a broken supply line. The crew treats storm runoff as contaminated, removes the wet materials that cannot be dried in place, sets air movers and dehumidifiers, and re-reads moisture until the structure is dry. Phones are answered 24/7, and a crew is dispatched as fast as one is available.
A standard homeowners policy generally does not cover flood, meaning surface water, rivers and creeks, and sewer or drain backup usually needs an added endorsement. Flood is a separate policy, through the National Flood Insurance Program or a private insurer. Your own policy decides what applies to you.
Storm damage is not one thing for insurance purposes. Rain that runs off the street and into a window well may be treated differently from water rising out of a creek, and water that comes up a floor drain during a combined sewer overflow is usually handled under a backup endorsement. The Ohio Department of Insurance lists water from a sewer backup or basement leak among typical homeowners-policy exclusions, so check the policy rather than assuming either way.
Start the claim early and keep the evidence. Photograph everything before it is moved, and stop the water if you can do it safely. The crew can give you moisture readings and photos for the claim, but coverage is your insurer's decision, and nothing on this page promises that it will pay.
Fast enough that the structure is dry before mold has a chance to establish itself. The length of drying depends on how much water got in, what it soaked and whether wet materials had to come out first. The crew re-reads moisture until the materials reach dry rather than working to a set number of days.
Drywall, insulation, carpet pad and wood framing hold water in different ways. Carpet and pad over a concrete floor can stay wet underneath long after the surface feels dry, and wall cavities behind finished basement walls are where hidden moisture usually sits. Meters and thermal imaging find those spots, so drying is not judged by touch alone.
Mold will continue to grow as long as it has a source of water, and mold can trigger allergy and asthma symptoms in some people. Ohio does not license mold remediation the way some states do, so ask any company what standard it works to. The crew can tell you which IICRC standard it follows; the S500 standard covers water damage restoration.
Size, the kind of water, what it soaked and how hard the space is to reach. The price is explained and approved before any emergency work starts, and repairs are quoted separately once the wet area has been seen and dried.
The first things that move the price are how much area is wet and how many rooms or floors it reached. Water that came through a combined sewer, or up from a creek or river, is treated as the most involved category, and it usually means more removal and more careful handling. A finished basement with carpet, drywall and cabinetry is more work than an open cellar with a bare concrete floor.
Access and age matter too. Basement stairs only, a crawl space or a farmhouse cellar with a hatch all change how equipment gets in and out. Pre-1940 houses in the city often have plaster on lath, so removal takes longer. How long the water sat before anyone found it, and whether the house was occupied, also changes the job. Nobody can price this honestly over the phone, so the price is confirmed on site before any work begins.
Usually yes. Runoff from a storm may be limited to a basement or a few rooms, while river or creek flooding comes from Buck Creek or the Mad River and is treated as the most involved category of water. Standard homeowners policies generally do not cover either kind of flood.
Surface water from heavy rain runs downhill, collects in low spots, pushes against foundations and into window wells, and often mixes with whatever the street drains carry. That is why the crew handles it with more care than a clean supply-line leak. For water that has come off a waterway, see flash flood cleanup and river flood cleanup.
Storm water and river water leave similar marks: silt lines on walls, debris in the floor drain and wet insulation low in the wall. Keep children and pets out of the affected area, and do not run a wet vacuum or a plug-in pump through standing water. The crew decides what comes out and what can be dried in place.
Responsibility depends on where the blockage is. The City of Springfield runs the water, sewer and stormwater system inside its limits, and a private line or floor drain belongs to the homeowner. Report a backup to the city and ask it to check the main before anything is cleaned up.
Inside the city limits, the City supplies water, sewer and stormwater through more than 229 miles of underground pipe, and the older neighborhoods run a combined sewer. The City's long-term plan for controlling overflows is filed with Ohio EPA under its permit. For a homeowner the practical point is simple: in a combined-sewer neighborhood, a heavy storm and a backup can arrive together.
Outside the city, the house usually has its own well and a household sewage treatment system, and a storm can leave the ground around both saturated. Pumping and repair of a septic system are a registered service provider's work, not the crew's. The crew's work is the cleanup and drying inside the building. Plumbing repair, including a damaged sewer line, goes through the county plumbing program.
Do not walk into moving water or enter a basement with standing water while the power may still be on. Shut off power at the panel only if you can reach it dry and safely, and otherwise call the utility. Treat storm water and sewer backup as contaminated: keep children and pets out, wash your hands, and do not run a fan or dehumidifier through a wet area. Older houses can contain asbestos in joint compound, old floor tile and pipe insulation, so check with Ohio EPA and your county health district before cutting into old materials.
Phones are answered 24/7, and a crew is dispatched as fast as one is available. Tell the dispatcher where the water came from, how deep it is, whether the power is on, and whether there is a sewer smell. Those answers decide how carefully the water has to be handled.
Standing water near outlets, the furnace or the electrical panel is the first hazard, so people stay out of it until the power is off. Shut the power off at the panel only if you can reach it without standing in water. The crew can shut the water off at the main and tarp or board an opening if the source is still running.
Pumps and extraction equipment take out standing water first, which is faster and safer than mopping. If a power cut has stopped the sump pump, the water keeps rising, so that is usually the first thing to fix. Storm water that has come through a combined sewer or out of a creek is handled as the most involved category of water.
Carpet and pad that have wicked up water usually come out, along with drywall, insulation and sometimes the bottom section of wall, cut as a flood cut. Older houses may contain materials that need checking before they are disturbed, so the crew confirms before cutting suspect material. Removal is limited to what the water actually reached.
Air movers and dehumidifiers run while the crew re-reads moisture with meters and thermal imaging until the materials reach dry. You get the readings and photos to give your insurer. The emergency stage is explained and approved before it starts, and repairs are quoted separately after drying.
Water rises through the floor drain or comes in along the foundation during a long, heavy rain. In the older parts of the city, a combined sewer can back up into the basement when stormwater overwhelms it, and the floor drain is often the first place it shows. The crew removes standing water, pulls out wet carpet and pad, and dries the floor, walls and framing.
Runoff that flows toward the house comes in through window wells, walkout doors, a garage slab or an old cellar hatch. The water is often shallow but spread across a wide area, so it reaches under flooring and behind baseboards. Finished lower levels hide that moisture well, which is why the crew checks beyond what is visible.
Outside the city limits, a storm can saturate the ground around a well, a septic field and a cellar entry. Runoff on saturated farm ground pools against the foundation and seeps through stone or block walls. The crew handles the water and drying inside the building, while the septic system and well are separate work for registered providers.
A storm can tear shingles or break a window, and water then comes through a ceiling or down a wall cavity, sometimes a day after the rain stops. The crew can tarp or board up the opening and dry the wet materials underneath. Replacing a roof is roofing work, and the crew does not do it.
If it's an emergency, call now. For non-urgent storm water damage cleanup, send the form and we'll call you back.
Springfield sits where Buck Creek meets the Mad River. The Corps of Engineers built the C.J. Brown Dam on Buck Creek above the city to furnish flood protection for Springfield, and it reduces flood stages downstream. It does not stop storm water from collecting in a low basement, which is why the river history and the basement history are different stories. For the river side, see the Mad River and Buck Creek flood guide.
The late-May 2016 flooding across Clark County is the local reference point people remember, when homes were surrounded and county roads were closed. Springfield's drinking water comes from wells in the Mad River buried-valley aquifer, so the supply is not what floods; the basement is. Homes across the Springfield area share the same pattern of old drains and low lots. The National Weather Service in Wilmington forecasts the Mad River near Springfield and issues the warnings, so check the current gauge.
Across the county, storm runoff tends to hit the places where the older housing meets low ground and farm drainage. Sump pumps need power, and power can go out in the same storm that fills the pit. Mapped floodplain runs along the river here, so check your own address on FEMA's Flood Map Service Center rather than relying on a neighbor's experience.
Extraction, drying and moisture checks for flooded basements and wet houses in Springfield, Ohio, handled by a local technician around the clock.
Fast extraction of standing water from basements and floors in Springfield, OH, so structural drying can begin.
Water out of a Springfield basement, the drying that follows, and the moisture checks that show when walls and floors are actually dry.
Cleanup and drying after sewage backs up through floor drains in Springfield. Phones answered 24/7; a crew is dispatched as soon as one is available.
Not sure if you're covered? Check your ZIP code.
Not always. Under typical homeowners-policy wording, surface water counts as flood, and flood is usually a separate policy. Water from a creek or river is clearly flood, while water that backs up through a drain is often handled under a separate endorsement. Check your policy and ask your agent, and the crew can document what it finds.
Only the safe parts. Move valuables up off the floor, photograph the damage, and stop the water if you can do it safely. Do not work in standing water near outlets, the furnace or the panel. Call (833) 490-5225; phones are answered 24/7, and a crew is dispatched as fast as one is available.
Phones are answered 24/7, and a crew is dispatched as fast as one is available. The phone line works at any hour, including after dark and on holidays. A crew cannot give a fixed arrival time over the phone, because the schedule depends on which crew is free.
The crew reads moisture in the materials with meters and thermal imaging, and it can hand you those readings. Dry to the touch is not the same as dry inside a wall. Ask for the readings in writing before you rebuild or cover anything.
Repairs after drying are quoted separately, once someone has seen the wet area. Plumbing repair, including a broken sewer line or a water heater, is plumbing work permitted through the county plumbing program. Septic pumping and repair belong to registered septic providers, not to the crew.
Report it to the City of Springfield and ask it to look at the main, because responsibility depends on where the blockage is. Keep the water out of your living space and treat it as contaminated until it is removed. The crew cleans up and dries the inside of the building once the source is known.