Water Damage Restoration
Extraction, structural drying and moisture verification after burst pipes, appliance failures and basement flooding.
Learn more →Why this page exists
Structural drying was the one core service this site never had a page for, even though it is where most of the equipment days and most of the invoice land. Extraction gets the attention because it is dramatic. Drying is what determines whether the building is actually safe to close up.
How it works
Drying is a balance between three variables: airflow across wet surfaces, the moisture-holding capacity of the air, and temperature.
Air movers are not fans for comfort. They push high-velocity air along a surface to strip off the saturated boundary layer sitting against it, which is what allows evaporation to continue. They are placed at shallow angles along walls so the airflow circulates the room rather than colliding.
Dehumidifiers take the moisture the air movers released and pull it back out. Refrigerant units are standard; low-grain refrigerant and desiccant units are used on Class 3 and 4 jobs where materials hold bound water. Undersize the dehumidification and you simply relocate the water to somewhere else in the building.
Specialty drying handles the hard cases: injectidry systems that force air into wall cavities without removing drywall, hardwood floor drying mats that pull water up through the boards, and heat drying for Class 4 bound water in plaster, brick or concrete.
Verification, not vibes
A defensible drying job produces a daily moisture log. Baseline readings are taken from unaffected material of the same species and assembly. Affected material is read at the same marked locations every day. Equipment stays until the numbers converge.
Ask to see that log. It is also the document your adjuster wants, because it is the evidence that the equipment days being billed were necessary. The insurance claims guide covers how that documentation is used.
Skipping verification is the most common cause of mold appearing weeks after a "completed" restoration. The wall looked dry, the carpet felt dry, the equipment came out on day three because the homeowner was tired of the noise, and the cavity behind the drywall was still at 30 percent.
What it costs
Equipment is billed per unit per day: air movers $25 to $75 each per day, commercial dehumidifiers $50 to $150 per day, and monitoring visits $50 to $150 each. On a typical residential job the drying phase runs $500 to $2,500 all in. Class 1 dries in two to three days, Class 2 in three to five, Class 3 in five to seven, and Class 4 in seven or more. Full tables are in the cost guide.
Two to three days of noise is the trade. It is also the reason people are tempted to cut it short, which is a bad trade.
Where it fits
Drying follows emergency water removal and precedes rebuild in the full restoration sequence. If drying started too late and mold is already present, containment and remediation come first — you cannot dry your way out of an established colony.
More services
Explore our other services
Fire & Smoke Damage
Soot removal, odor control and cleanup of the firefighting water that usually does more damage than the flames.
Learn more →Mold Remediation
Containment, removal and moisture-source correction when water sat long enough for mold to take hold.
Learn more →Storm & Hail Damage
Roof tarping, water intrusion cleanup and documentation after Front Range hail and wind events.
Learn more →Sewage Cleanup
Category 3 backups handled with containment, full removal of porous materials and disinfection.
Learn more →
FAQs
Frequently asked questions
What is dry standard?
A target moisture content taken from unaffected material of the same type elsewhere in the building. If unaffected pine framing reads 11 percent, then the affected framing is dry when it reads 11 percent, not when it feels dry. Without a baseline reading, a drying claim is unverifiable.
How many air movers will they put in my house?
Counts are calculated, not guessed. A common approach is one air mover for the room plus one per additional affected wall, with more for saturated carpet and wet cavities. A typical residential job runs 5 to 20 units. Ask for the calculation if a count looks arbitrary.
Why do the fans have to run for days?
Because evaporation from inside a material is slow. Air movers only move the saturated boundary layer off a surface; the water still has to migrate from the middle of the stud or subfloor to the surface, and that happens at a fixed rate. Turning equipment off overnight to save on the power bill adds days.
Does Colorado's dry climate speed this up?
Yes, meaningfully. The semi-arid Front Range climate means indoor air is already low in absolute humidity, so dehumidifiers have a favorable gradient to work against and fresh-air exchange is often useful rather than counterproductive. Comparable jobs here often dry a day faster than they would in a humid climate.
Free, no-obligation