Who do I call for water damage after a flood?

Call your flood insurance company first to open a claim. Then call a company that removes wet material and dries the house, because the EPA says wet materials should be dried within 24 to 48 hours to prevent mold. Call an electrician if water reached outlets or the panel, and your AC company if it reached the air handler.

Who to Call for Flood Water Damage in Fort Lauderdale and Miami

Updated October 29, 2026

Who does what after a flood

Your flood carrier. Report the loss and get a claim number. The NFIP claims checklist says an adjuster should contact you within 48 hours of the report. Our claim guide walks through the rest.

Tear-out and drying. This is the work that stops the damage: pulling wet carpet, baseboards and the bottom of the drywall, rinsing off salt, and running air movers and dehumidifiers until moisture readings come back dry. It is what people mean by water mitigation. See how long drying takes.

Rebuild. New drywall, paint, baseboards, flooring, cabinets and any bathroom or kitchen work. Using the same company for drying and rebuild keeps anything from falling through the gap between the two.

Electrician and AC technician. Saltwater corrodes wiring and equipment. If water touched outlets, the panel or the air handler, they check it before the power or the AC goes back on.

Mold professional. For mold over about 10 square feet, the EPA points you to a professional. Florida regulates mold remediation, and you can look up any company on the Florida DBPR site.

Plumber. Only if the water came from a pipe, a water heater or a sewer backup inside the house. A plumber does not fix king tide damage.

What happens when you call us

We are a family owned, fully insured remodeling company working across Miami-Dade and Broward. On the phone we ask where the water came in, how high it got, whether the power is on and whether you have a flood policy. At the house we take moisture readings on every wall the water touched, show you what has to come out and what can stay, and photograph everything for your claim. You get a written scope, room by room.

What we do not do: electrical panel or AC repair, and we do not negotiate your claim. If we find mold beyond a small patch, we tell you, and you bring in a mold professional.

Related questions

Is water mitigation the same as water damage restoration?

They overlap, and companies use the words loosely. Mitigation is the emergency part: stopping more damage by getting the water and the wet material out and drying the structure. Restoration usually means the whole job, mitigation plus putting the house back together. Rebuild, or reconstruction, is the second half on its own: drywall, paint, flooring, cabinets and trim. What matters more than the label is who does each half. When one company dries the house and a different one rebuilds it, the handoff is where things go wrong. Walls get closed before they read dry, or part of the scope falls in a gap that neither side priced. Ask any company two questions. Will you give me moisture readings in writing as the house dries? And do you rebuild, or will I need someone else? We do the tear-out, the drying and the rebuild, so the crew that opened the wall is the crew that closes it.

What should I have ready when I call?

A few things make the first call and the walkthrough faster. Your address and the best number to reach you. When the water came in, how high it got inside, and whether it is still there. Whether the power is on, and whether water reached any outlets, the electrical panel or the AC air handler. Whether you have flood insurance, and the claim number if you already reported it. Photos or video from before anything was moved, if you took them. And a list of the rooms that got wet, including closets and the garage, since those are the easiest to forget. If you do not have all of this, call anyway. Starting the drying a day earlier matters more than having perfect information, because every day a wall stays wet adds to what has to come out of it.

Areas hit by the October tide

Sources

The image on this page is an illustration, not a photo of one of our jobs.