The water damage process in Florida: mitigation first, repair after

Two jobs, not one

Mitigation

Stopping further damage and getting the structure dry. Extraction, removing materials that cannot be dried, setting air movers and dehumidifiers, and monitoring moisture until readings come back to normal. This starts quickly, because the EPA advises drying water-damaged areas and items within 24-48 hours to prevent mold growth (epa.gov).

Repair, or reconstruction

Putting the building back: drywall, paint, trim, flooring, cabinets. This starts only once the structure is dry, and it is frequently a different company with a different contract. It is usually the larger of the two numbers.

Ask for the two scopes and the two prices separately. A single figure that covers both is very hard to compare against another company's single figure, and it hides which part of the work you are actually agreeing to.

What the drying phase looks like

1. Inspection and mapping. Moisture meters and, on larger losses, thermal imaging to find where water has traveled. Ask for the readings and the affected area in writing on day one.
2. Extraction. Standing water out, saturated carpet pad and unsalvageable materials out. In Florida this often means opening wall cavities where water has wicked upward into drywall.
3. Drying setup. Air movers to move water out of materials and dehumidifiers to take it out of the air. Humidity is why dehumidification does so much of the work here, and why closing the house up matters more than opening windows.
4. Daily monitoring. Readings taken and logged each day, with equipment added or removed as the structure dries. Ask for the daily log.
5. Sign off on dry. Drying ends when readings return to a normal baseline for your building, not when a fixed number of days has passed.

How long it takes

For a contained loss caught quickly, drying is often a matter of a few days. Where water sat for a while, where it reached insulation and cabinetry, or where hardwood and concrete are involved, it takes longer. Nobody can tell you the number before the moisture readings exist, and an estimate given over the phone without an inspection is a sales figure rather than a schedule.

Repair timelines depend on materials, permits where structural or electrical work is involved, and, after a widespread storm, on how many other households are waiting for the same trades.

Paperwork worth keeping

• Photographs and video from before anything was moved, plus photos of what came out.
• The moisture map, the daily readings and the equipment log.
• Written scopes for mitigation and for reconstruction, separately.
• Receipts for anything you bought yourself, including fans, tarps or a hotel if the property became unlivable.
• The make, model and age of whatever failed, if it was an appliance or water heater.

Get a written scope before work starts wherever the situation allows it. If the property is still actively wet, it is reasonable for a company to begin mitigation on an agreed basis and document as they go, but you should still receive the scope and the daily records.