Water damage restoration for Arvada properties

Two counties, three creeks, one hail corridor

Arvada spans Jefferson and Adams counties, with Ralston Creek and Van Bibber Creek running west to east through the city and Clear Creek along the southern edge. All three carry runoff off the foothills, and all three can move a lot of water in a short time during a stalled monsoon cell.

Surface water from a creek or from street flooding is Category 3 — contaminated, with porous materials removed rather than dried, and excluded from standard homeowners coverage.

Overhead, the northwest metro sits in an active part of Colorado's hail corridor. Hail is the largest property-claim driver in the state, and Arvada's stock of single-family homes with asphalt shingle roofs is precisely what it damages.

The delayed hail leak

This is the local pattern worth knowing. Hail bruises shingles and strips the granules that protect them, often without opening a hole. The roof keeps the rain out for the rest of the summer. Then a sustained autumn rain or the first spring snowmelt finds the weakened section, and water enters the attic.

By that point the attic insulation is saturated, the ceiling below has been wet for a while, and the claim conversation is complicated because the damage date and the discovery date are months apart. It is a Class 3 water job — overhead saturation means ceiling, walls, insulation and often subfloor are all affected — which is one of the more expensive drying classes.

The fix is simple and almost nobody does it: get the roof inspected within a few weeks of any significant hail event and keep the dated report. See storm and hail damage.

The housing split

Olde Town Arvada and the older neighborhoods around it are pre-1950, with clay sewer laterals under mature trees and some remaining original supply plumbing. Sewer backups and slow hidden wall leaks concentrate here.

The 1960s through 1980s subdivisions that make up most of the city have copper supply and full basements finished later, which is where the bulk of appliance and water heater losses land.

Newer western and northern development is 1990s onward with modern plumbing throughout.

The process

Inspection and classification to IICRC category and drying class. Extraction. Removal of wet attic insulation on overhead losses, because it does not dry usefully and holds moisture against framing. Structural drying of ceiling assemblies, wall cavities and subfloor with daily moisture readings. Verification to dry standard, then rebuild.

Cost

Denver-metro rates: typically $1,500 to $7,500. Roof and ice dam leaks run $1,200 to $5,000. Ceiling water damage repair runs roughly $45 to $55 per square foot. Finished basement flooding $2,500 to $10,000 or more. See the cost guide.

Also available locally: mold remediation, sewage cleanup and fire and smoke damage. Neighboring coverage: Westminster, Lakewood and Denver, with the rest on the service areas page.