Water damage restoration
Water damage restoration in Nashville, TN
Burst supply lines, failed water heaters, appliance hoses, roof leaks, groundwater in a crawl space. We extract, we dry to a written goal, and we hand you the readings that prove it.
Call (555) 555-0142
Send damage details
The first decisions set the whole job
Water damage is not one problem. It is a source that has to be found, a volume of water that has to come out, and a set of wet materials that will either dry or have to go. Those are three different decisions, and getting them wrong on day one costs money on day ten.
So the first thing we do is inspect. We locate the source, map how far the water has traveled with moisture meters and thermal imaging, and make a preliminary determination — the technical call that establishes the category of water and, with it, the scope of the job.
One boundary worth stating plainly, because it is often blurred: determining and correcting the cause of the water intrusion is the property owner's responsibility, not the restorer's. We stop the damage and dry the structure. Repairing the leak itself is scoped and quoted separately, and we will tell you honestly whether it is work we do.
Category matters more than volume
Under ANSI/IICRC S500, Standard for Professional Water Damage Restoration, 5th Edition (2021), water is classified by what is in it, not by how much of it there is. A small amount of the wrong water is a bigger job than a lot of clean water.
Category 1 — Sanitary
From a sanitary source, with no substantial risk from skin contact, ingestion or inhalation. Supply lines, water heaters, melting snow or ice, rainwater, a clean overflow.
Category 2 — Significantly Contaminated
Carries significant contamination and can cause discomfort or sickness. Dishwasher or washing machine discharge, hydrostatic seepage, a failed sump pump.
Category 3 — Grossly Contaminated
Can contain pathogenic or toxigenic agents. Sewage, backups from beyond the trap, seawater flooding, river or stream water entering the building.
Category 1 water does not stay Category 1. Left standing, it degrades. That is why the timing of the first call matters more than the size of the spill.
Storm water is not automatically Category 3. In February 2026, the IICRC's S500 Consensus Body published a position statement stating that top-down water ingress, wind-driven rain and water from weather-related events are not automatically considered Category 3. The determining factor is whether the water is grossly contaminated — not how it got in. We make that call on site, and we write down why.
Drying is a measured process, not a waiting period
Placing fans in a room is not drying. Structural drying means setting a dry standard, setting a drying goal, sizing the equipment to the evaporation load, and then proving with instruments that the materials are actually reaching the target.
— Class 1 — a limited amount of water on a small area, in materials of low porosity: tile, sealed concrete, hardwood.
— Class 2 — significant damage over a larger area, with carpet, cushion and drywall affected.
— Class 3 — extensive saturation, usually water that came from above, with almost everything in the space wet.
— Class 4 — deeply bound moisture in materials of low porosity: plaster, brick, stone, concrete. These call for specialty drying techniques.
What we bring, and what it is for
— Moisture meters — water content in materials, so we know what is wet behind a surface that looks dry.
— Thermo-hygrometers — temperature and relative humidity in the drying environment, checked at each visit.
— Thermal imaging — surface temperature differences that show where water has traveled, before anything is opened up.
— Air movers — evaporation off wet surfaces.
— Dehumidifiers — removal of the water vapor the air movers put into the air. Sized to the class, not to the room.
— Extraction units — standing water and water held in carpet and cushion.
— Air scrubbers — multi-stage filtration of airborne particles and odors when the work calls for it.
— Containment — sheeting and negative pressure with HEPA filtration where contamination is present.
What you have in hand at the end
— A record of the category of water and how it was determined.
— Moisture readings, dated, per affected material and per drying day.
— The dry standard and drying goal we worked to.
— Photographs of the affected areas, before and during the work.
— An itemized estimate of the work performed, in the format your carrier reads.
— A note of what was removed and why, which is the part adjusters ask about most often.
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Water still coming in? Call now.
Emergency mitigation begins on arrival and does not wait for a claim number.
Call (555) 555-0142
24/7 emergency line — (555) 555-0142
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