Contact North Vernon Water Restoration

What's safe to do before the crew shows up in North Vernon?

The two jobs that matter most before the crew arrives are keeping people away from wet outlets and shutting off the water, and the steps below cover both.

• If you can reach the breaker panel from a dry floor, switch off the circuits for the wet rooms. If you'd have to step through water to get there, leave it alone and tell us on the call.
• If a pipe or supply line is leaking, close the main water valve. In homes with basements it's usually on the wall where the water line comes in from the street.
• Water that rises out of a basement floor drain should be handled as contaminated, so stop running water in the house until the crew arrives.
• A full sump pit with a quiet pump usually means a power problem or a stuck float. Check the outlet and the breaker only if the floor around the pit is dry.
• A pipe that burst in the cold can keep leaking as it thaws. Close the main valve first, then open a faucet to drain the line.
• Take rugs and anything stored on the floor out of the wet area, and keep the interior doors open so air can move.
• The EPA's mold guide puts the drying window at 24 to 48 hours for water damaged areas and items, so the sooner the crew can start, the better your odds of keeping mold out.
• Hold off on permanent repairs until you've read your policy. The claim tips from the Indiana Department of Insurance explain why.

What questions come up on the first call?

A few details on the first call help the crew plan the visit before they leave.

• Where the water is coming from, and whether it's still running.
• If any of it came up through a toilet or floor drain, since that changes how the crew handles it.
• Whether the floors feel soft or damp above the crawl space.
• When it started, even if it's a guess.
• About how old the house is. A lot of homes in North Vernon date from the 1940s, and older plumbing changes what the crew checks first.
• If there's a dog or other pet the crew should know about.
• If you plan to file a claim, which company your policy is with.

If you don't know some of these answers, say so and the crew will check them when they get to the house.

What happens on site after you call?

They start where the water started, whether that's a supply line or a drain, and confirm it's stopped.

Next they map the wet area with moisture meters, because water travels under flooring and behind baseboards farther than it looks. Our crew takes the damage photos as they go and puts them into a photo report.

Our water restoration manager is IICRC certified. The IICRC is the standards body behind S500, its standard for professional water damage restoration, now in its Fifth Edition from 2021.

Before any tear out, the crew walks you through what they found, room by room, so you can decide with your insurance company how you want to move forward.

If you go ahead, the crew removes standing water, sets up drying equipment and checks the readings on return visits until the wet materials are dry.

Why do the age and layout of your North Vernon home matter on the call?

North Vernon grew a lot in the 1940s, and plenty of homes from that time still have some original plumbing. Typical houses here are ranch homes. You'll find full basements and crawl spaces around town, and the crew plans the drying differently for each. Homes near the Muscatatuck River can take on groundwater or surface water after long rains, which the crew handles differently from a pipe leak. Galvanized steel supply pipes, which rust from the inside, are still around in older houses here. Share what you know about the house on the call, even if it's a rough guess.

What parts of North Vernon and nearby towns do we cover?

The North Vernon crew covers these neighborhoods:

• State Street Historic District · much of it from the 1850s to 1950s, basements are common
• Walnut Street Historic District · much of it from the 1870s to 1930s, most with basements
• Annadale · basements are common
• Heritage Estates · most with basements
• North Vernon Downtown Historic District · most with basements

We also take calls from nearby Westport and Seymour. If you can't tell whether you're covered, call anyway, and the team will tell you on the phone whether a crew can reach your address. You can read more about water damage restoration in North Vernon and basement flooding.

What should you know before you call?