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Water damage repair in Greenville homes

In Greenville, a water damage repair often has more than one owner. Renters hold 59% of homes here, by Census figures, and 42% of homes are in buildings with 5 or more units. The county's shares are 31% and 16%. A leak in an upstairs unit becomes a ceiling, wall and floor repair in the unit below. The owner, the tenant and sometimes an association all have a say in the rebuild.

The housing spans old and new. Some 12% of homes were built before 1950 and 42% before 1980, many with plaster, hardwood and older supply lines. Newer apartment buildings use drywall, vinyl plank and plastic piping. Each material dries and is replaced differently. In the older houses, ask whether painted plaster and trim will be tested for lead before anything is cut. Cutting and sanding old paint can spread lead dust through the rooms.

Plumbing starts more of these repairs than flood water does. FEMA's National Risk Index puts the city's yearly inland flood loss at $73 per $100,000 of building value, below the county's 86. Cold is the bigger trigger, with 64 nights a year at or below 32 degrees by NOAA climate normals. Burst pipe cleanup handles the first hours, and repair waits for the framing to dry.

The crew checks the source, measures moisture in framing, drywall and subfloor, and then decides what to cut. Ask which category the water was and what the final drying readings were. Ask what was removed, and get a written estimate that splits the owner's building items from the tenant's belongings. Owners of apartment buildings may also need business water damage cleanup for halls and stairwells. Before rebuild work begins, call your insurance company to ask what your policy covers.