Frequently Asked Questions

We locate the tide mark, the line water leaves on a wall, then remove the wet materials and dry the rest past that line. The process includes water extraction, drywall and baseboard removal, setting up air movers and dehumidifiers, daily moisture readings, anti-microbial treatment, and then reconstruction. We ask before we move or touch anything, and we protect your floors with drop cloths and shoe covers from the first day.

A contained bathroom or laundry room leak usually takes 3 to 5 days from start to finish. A larger loss involving multiple rooms, or one that sat overnight, can run 7 to 14 days because of the extra dry time South Florida humidity demands. We check moisture levels daily and give you a clear timeline in the written scope. We will never rush the drying stage just to close the file.

In West Palm Beach, a room with air movers and a commercial dehumidifier typically dries in 48 to 72 hours. That stretches to 5 days or more in the humid months from June through October, or when water got behind baseboards and under tile. We can use an Injectidry system to dry inside wall cavities without tearing out all the drywall, which often saves both time and money. We monitor with moisture meters and do not consider the room dry until the numbers confirm it.

If water was clean and caught within 24 hours, a thorough dry-out plus cleaning is often enough. If the water was from a sewage backup, a toilet overflow, or sat longer than 48 hours, you need actual remediation: remove contaminated materials, disinfect the framing, sanitize the area, and verify with a third-party hygienist test. A cleaning by itself can leave mold behind the walls. We will tell you honestly which one your situation needs. Call (728) 231-8456 and we will look at photos or walk the room with you.

For a small spill on tile, go ahead and mop. For anything that soaked into drywall, carpet pad, or baseboards, call us. Water wicks up drywall quickly, and a dehumidifier alone will not pull moisture from inside a wall cavity. The real risk in West Palm Beach is mold, which can establish itself within 48 hours in warm humid air. A professional extraction and drying setup costs less than a mold remediation six weeks from now.

We run commercial-grade XPOWER air movers and B-Air dehumidifiers on most residential jobs in West Palm Beach. Both brands are built for continuous operation, which matters when a room needs 72 straight hours of drying. For wall cavities and under cabinets, we use Injectidry systems to dry inside the wall without ripping out extra drywall. The equipment is loud on day one, but we set the machines so they do the work while you are out.

Yes. When we rebuild, we match the removed materials, baseboard profile, trim style, and paint sheen. If your home has custom millwork or specific tile, we note that in the written scope before we start. In older West Palm Beach neighborhoods like Flamingo Park or Northwood, we are used to matching mid-century details that you cannot buy off the shelf at a big-box store. We ask before we touch anything, and we show you what we plan to replace before demo starts.

Yes, where there is a choice, we use pet-safe products. We think about who lives in the house, kids, dogs, cats, and we read the labels before we spray. For anti-microbial treatment, we use EPA-registered products that are safe when applied correctly and given proper dry time. We will tell you what we are using and how long the room should stay empty. Ask us to flag every product before we apply it, we are glad to walk you through it.

Yes. Every pro working under our name is required to hold the license and insurance their state requires, and our work is covered by the Cedarwell Care Promise. That means shoe covers and drop cloths inside the house, quiet tools when the kids are asleep, pet-safe products where there is a choice, a photo of the clean-up before we leave, and a written price before any work starts. Rick Sumner leads our local team and he will confirm all of this in person at your estimate.

Look for a company that follows IICRC standards for water damage and mold remediation. That is the industry body that sets the best-practice guidelines for extraction, drying, and sanitizing. You should also confirm the company works to a written scope, documents the job with photos, and coordinates directly with your insurance adjuster. Those three habits tell you more than a wall of certificates.

We do. When you hire us, we prepare a fact sheet with the cause of loss, photos, moisture readings, drying logs, and the full scope of work. That goes directly to your adjuster, and we stay available to walk the property with them. You should not have to translate restoration terms into insurance language. That is our part of the job. Call (728) 231-8456 and we will coordinate the documentation before you even file.

Our hours are Monday through Friday from 7:00 AM to 7:00 PM, and Sunday from 7:00 AM to 7:00 PM. Call (728) 231-8456 and a live coordinator will connect you with our local team. If you call during business hours, we can often get a crew started the same day. The first step on your end is to shut off the water source if you can do it safely, and keep the area clear of kids and pets until we arrive.

Shut off the water at the valve or main. Move small furniture and electronics out of the wet area if it is safe to walk. Remove any rugs or low items that are soaking up water. Do not use a shop vac on standing water unless the power is completely off. Do not open walls or pull baseboards yourself, you can spread contaminated water. Take photos for your insurer, and call (728) 231-8456. We will talk you through the wait.

It can be, depending on the source. Clean water from a supply line is low risk in the first hours. Water from a sewage backup, a toilet overflow, or outside flooding carries bacteria and should not be touched with bare hands. Gray and black water require full PPE and proper disposal. Keep kids and pets out of the area, turn off power to the room if you can do so safely, and call (728) 231-8456. We will tell you over the phone whether to evacuate the room or just close the door.

Yes. Every job we do in West Palm Beach is covered by the Cedarwell Care Promise. That means a written price before any work starts, a documented clean-up before we leave, and a standard that treats your home like our own. If something we dried develops a problem, we return to look at it. We put our standards in writing because your family is living in the space we worked on.

The Cedarwell Care Promise is the standard every independently owned Tidemark location works to: shoe covers and drop cloths inside the house, quiet tools when the kids are asleep, pet-safe products where there is a choice, a photo of the clean-up before we leave, and a written price before any work starts. It is the reason we exist as a company. We find the tide mark and dry past it, and we leave the house clean.

The materials we install, drywall, trim, baseboards, paint, are covered by manufacturer warranties where they exist, and our workmanship is backed by the Cedarwell Care Promise. If a repair fails because we missed moisture or cut a corner, we come back. If a new problem shows up months later from a different leak, that is a new job. We will always be straight with you about which is which. Call (728) 231-8456 with any follow-up question.

We are a local West Palm Beach branch of Tidemark Water Damage Restoration, and we work to the same care standard every Cedarwell company agrees to: a written price before any work, a photo of the clean-up before we leave, and respect for your family's time and quiet hours. Rick Sumner runs our local team, and we know the homes and neighborhoods in this market, from the 1920s bungalows in Grandview Heights to the newer construction out west. We are not a call center. When you call, a live coordinator connects you with the local team that will actually do the work.

Yes. West Palm Beach sits in the Atlantic hurricane path, and we have helped homeowners after tropical storms, roof leaks, and wind-driven rain. Storm water is often contaminated by the time it gets inside, so we treat it as gray water unless testing shows otherwise. We coordinate with your insurer, photo-document everything, and give you a written scope before demolition starts. If a storm is forecast, call (728) 231-8456 ahead of time so you know what the first three days after landfall will look like.

Written by Rick Sumner, Owner at Tidemark Water Damage West Palm Beach, serving West Palm Beach and surrounding communities since 2006.