Storm Damage Restoration in San Antonio

The Texas Department of Insurance notes that spring typically brings the most severe thunder and hail to Texas, and San Antonio homeowners know the pattern. A hailstone cracks a skylight, wind peels back a row of shingles, or rain blows sideways for twenty minutes against a window that was never quite sealed. The damage on the roof is visible from the street. The water that got in is harder to see.

That interior water is the part we handle. Storm damage restoration at Texas Damage Response means three kinds of jobs:

• Roof leaks that soak attic insulation and come through the ceiling
• Wind-driven rain forced in around windows, doors, vents and siding
• Flash flooding that pushes water in from the yard or street

The Texas Department of Insurance tells homeowners to cover broken windows and holes to keep rain out and to remove standing water after a hail or windstorm. We can do both. Our crew boards up broken windows and doors and tarps the damaged part of the roof as temporary protection (see emergency board-up and roof tarping), then pulls out the standing water and dries everything wet underneath.

Roof repair is still a roofer's job. Texas Damage Response doesn't do roofing or roof repair, and a glass company or contractor replaces broken windows. A tarp holds things over until the roofer gets there.

The two jobs don't have to wait on each other. Once the openings are covered, we can start pulling water out and drying the house while the roof repair gets scheduled. That matters, because the EPA advises drying water-damaged areas within 24 to 48 hours to prevent mold growth, and roof repairs after a big hail storm can take a while to book.

Water from a roof leak lands on attic insulation first. Blown-in and batt insulation hold water, flatten and stop insulating, and they keep the drywall under them wet long after the rain stops. We remove the wet insulation, open the ceiling where it's soaked or sagging, and dry the cavity and the framing around it.

If a ceiling sags, clear the room and leave it alone. Our ceiling water damage page walks through the warning signs and what drying a ceiling involves. If water has run down the inside of an exterior wall, we take moisture readings along the wall and in the rooms below, because the stain usually shows up far from where the water came in.

Storm water isn't treated like water from a broken supply line. The industry standard for water damage, the ANSI/IICRC S500, lists wind-driven rain from hurricanes, tropical storms or other weather-related events among its Category 3 examples, as summarized by Restoration & Remediation magazine. Rising water from rivers or streams is on the same list. In practice, that means more of what the water soaked, like carpet pad and the bottom of the drywall, is likely to come out instead of being dried in place.

When a storm floods the house from outside, stay out of the water until authorities give the all-clear. Ready.gov says not to walk, swim or drive through flood waters, and not to touch electrical equipment if it is wet or if you are standing in water. Our flood cleanup page covers that job from tear-out to drying.

After a big hail or wind event, the phone and the doorbell both get busy. TDI's hail and windstorm tips are worth keeping handy:

• Take pictures and video of the damage.
• Don't throw any damaged items away until your insurance company tells you.
• Save all receipts, because your policy may pay for temporary repairs.
• Get more than one bid or repair estimate, and don't pay in full up front.
• Avoid contractors who offer to waive your deductible.

We help document the damage and work with your insurance carrier throughout the restoration process, with photos and moisture readings from the first visit on. Your carrier decides what's covered, and the deductible is yours to pay. We don't interpret policies, negotiate claims or act as an adjuster. Our insurance claims page has more.

Once the water is out, structural drying takes over, and moisture readings decide when the framing, subfloor and drywall are dry. If belongings need to leave the house while that happens, contents pack-out wraps, inventories and stores them securely.

Then we rebuild. We rebuild the projects we restore, so insulation, ceiling drywall, texture, paint and flooring go back through our reconstruction team after the roofer has finished up top. We're a veteran-owned, family-operated company based in San Antonio, and we take storm calls across the metro and up the I-35 corridor, from Converse and Schertz to Round Rock.