Extraction, drying and moisture checks for Olathe basements, floor drains and clay-soil leaks, with a crew dispatched as fast as one is available.
Fastest: call (833) 490-5225. Or send this and we call you back.
Restoration is the removal of standing water, then drying the structure and its contents and checking hidden moisture until readings return to normal. In Olathe it usually means a finished basement, where carpet, drywall and the floor drain sit beside the furnace and water heater. Phones are answered 24/7, and a crew is dispatched as fast as one is available.
Olathe is the seat of Johnson County, on the Kansas side of the Kansas City metro, and most of its housing sits on poured full basements. In the post-1980 subdivisions those basements are usually finished, with carpet, drywall and cabinetry over concrete. The furnace, water heater, electrical panel, washer and floor drain are all down there, so water that gets in reaches the things that matter first.
The ground explains many of the calls. Much of the county is mapped as Grundy silt loam, a deep, somewhat poorly drained soil formed in loess with a clay-rich subsoil that moves water slowly. Clay shrinks in a dry August and swells in a wet spring. In March the perched water table can rise high enough to push water against walls that stayed dry all summer.
Creeks add a second source. Indian Creek and Tomahawk Creek run northeast through Overland Park and Leawood, and in late July and August 2017 they reached record levels after heavy rain. Creek water starts in a higher water category than a broken supply line, so that cleanup is more involved and the drying takes longer.
Usually yes, once water has reached carpet, drywall, pad or subfloor. Wet materials can start to grow mold within a day or two, so drying is the time-sensitive part.
The EPA advises drying water-damaged areas and items within 24 to 48 hours, and notes that mold can grow on wood, drywall, carpet and furniture left wet for more than 24 hours. A shallow puddle on bare concrete may be mopped up. Water that has soaked into a wall cavity, a carpet pad or a subfloor is different, because it keeps moving where you cannot see it.
In a finished Olathe basement the damage often runs under trim and behind the lower course of drywall, so the visible wet patch is only part of the problem. The crew uses moisture meters and thermal imaging to find that water before deciding what comes out and what dries in place.
The technician sorts the water into an IICRC S500 category based on its source. The category shapes how much is removed and how the cleanup is handled.
Category 1 is clean water from a sanitary source, such as a broken supply line or an ice-maker line. Category 2 is gray water, such as washing machine or dishwasher discharge. Category 3 is black water, which covers sewer backup, floor-drain surcharge and creek floodwater.
Most Johnson County basement backups land in Category 3. Water changes as it sits, so the category is assessed on arrival. Ask the technician which category was recorded and why, and ask which certifications the individual technicians hold.
The area and depth of wet materials, the water category, the finishes involved and how long the water sat all move the price. The price is confirmed on site before any work begins.
A basement wet only at the floor drain costs less to dry than one where water reached finished walls, cabinetry and the room above. Access matters too: stairs only, a crawl space, a walk-out lower level or an upper-floor unit each change the work. Mold already present turns the job into containment work.
The guide to what moves a quote covers these in more detail. Repairs after drying are quoted separately, and a plumber's repair is not part of the crew's quote. The crew does not bill your insurer directly, so coverage is a question for your policy.
Coverage is decided by your insurer under your own policy, not by the crew. A standard homeowners policy generally responds to sudden and accidental water damage, such as a burst supply line.
The Kansas Insurance Department's shopper's guide says most homeowners policies exclude water damage from sewer backup and from flood and rising water, and lists sump pump failure among costs many policies do not cover. That coverage normally needs an endorsement, which is a written form added to the policy. Flood coverage is a separate policy, through the National Flood Insurance Program or a private insurer.
Take photos before anything is moved, stop the water if you can do it safely, and call your insurer early. The crew can give you moisture readings and photos for your claim. For problems with how a claim is handled, the Kansas Insurance Department's Consumer Assistance Division takes complaints at 1-800-432-2484.
A licensed plumber does. The crew stops the water at the shut-off, then cleans and dries, and it does not replace the water heater or repair the pipe.
Plumbing contractors in Johnson County must be licensed through Johnson County Contractor Licensing. Anyone can look up a company in the county's online contractor search, which shows whether it is licensed and allowed to work, before anyone starts cutting drywall.
Roof replacement is outside this work as well. Roofers in Kansas need a state registration from the Attorney General on top of local licensing, so for a roof leak the crew handles the interior water and emergency tarping, and a registered roofer handles the roof.
Do not step into standing water near the electrical panel, the furnace or a basement outlet, and do not switch on anything sitting in water. Close the main shut-off if you can reach it safely. Treat anything that came up a floor drain as contaminated, and keep children and pets away until it has been cleaned. Do not thaw a frozen pipe with a blowtorch; use a hair dryer, with the main shut off first. Leave mold larger than a small patch, roughly 10 square feet, to professionals.
Close the main shut-off if you can reach it without standing in water. Phones are answered 24/7, and a crew is dispatched as fast as one is available.
The crew extracts water with pumps and extractors, starting at the lowest point, usually the basement floor. Removing it early lowers the moisture load in the materials that stay.
Technicians check with moisture meters and thermal imaging, behind baseboards, under carpet pad and inside wall cavities. Readings are recorded so you can see what is drying and what is not.
Air movers and dehumidifiers go in, and readings are checked again until materials return to dry. The emergency stage is explained and approved before work starts.
Once materials are dry, repairs are quoted separately, after someone has seen the wet area. Ask for photos and moisture readings to share with your insurer.
This is the common Olathe call. Water from a floor-drain surcharge, a sump failure or a pipe can reach carpet, drywall, trim and cabinetry in one event. The crew removes the wet finishes that cannot be dried in place, and the basement guide explains the steps in more detail. Basement flooding cleanup
Washing machine hoses, ice-maker lines and water heater leaks usually start as clean water and can turn gray if they sit. Upstairs laundry rooms often leak into the floor below. The crew dries the affected area, and any pipe or heater repair goes to a plumber.
A bathroom or laundry overflow on the second floor often shows first as a stain on the ceiling below. Water can travel along joists and wall cavities before it appears, so the wet area is larger than the stain. The crew checks the cavities and dries the structure.
Tell us what's happening and we'll tell you honestly whether it's a quick fix, and what water damage restoration should cost.
Olathe's water comes from more than one utility. Olathe Water serves the city, Gardner runs its own system, and WaterOne serves much of the rest of the county. Johnson County Wastewater handles sanitary sewer across the county, and the sewer lateral from the house to the public line is generally the homeowner's responsibility. Its 24/7 emergency line is 913-715-8600, and its map tool shows whether it serves an address.
The winter pattern is freeze and thaw. The National Weather Service puts the average first freeze for Kansas City around late October and the average last freeze around early April. Burst pipes cluster from December to February, and a frozen pipe often leaks only when it thaws, which is why calls rise on the warm-up. Closed-up houses at Lake Quivira, Gardner Lake and Hillsdale are the quiet risk. See the Olathe area page for local detail.
The creeks left their mark in 2017. On 26 and 27 July the National Weather Service reported record flooding on Indian Creek at State Line Road and on Tomahawk Creek at Roe Avenue. Three weeks later, on 21 and 22 August, Indian Creek crested at about 28 feet. If your address sits near mapped floodplain, check it on FEMA's flood map service or the Kansas Division of Water Resources viewer.
Standing water pumped out of a Johnson County home so drying can start before mold has time to grow.
Water cleanup for finished and unfinished basements in Olathe and Johnson County, from extraction through drying.
Sewage backup cleanup in Olathe, KS: removing contaminated water, drying the basement and cleaning floor drains and finished materials.
Cleanup and drying after a failed sump pump or storm power cut floods an Olathe basement, with phones answered 24/7.
Not sure if you're covered? Check your ZIP code.
No honest number exists before someone has seen the wet area.
A sewer backup happens when the public sanitary sewer receives more flow than it can carry, and the surge pushes wastewater back up the house connection, usually out of a basement floor drain.
Pipes in Olathe freeze mostly inside the building, in exterior walls, garages, attics, crawl spaces and empty houses, from about December through February.
Many basement leaks in Olathe are seepage through the wall, not a broken pipe.
Indian Creek and Tomahawk Creek run northeast through Overland Park and Leawood, and both set records in July 2017.
A standard Kansas homeowners policy generally responds to sudden and accidental water damage, such as a burst supply line.
A newer Olathe subdivision house usually fails at washer and ice-maker lines, an upstairs bathroom, or a sump pump that stops during a storm.
Phones are answered 24/7, and a crew is dispatched as fast as one is available. No arrival time can be promised, because availability and the number of calls at once change the schedule. When you call, say where the water is, whether it came from a supply line, a drain or outside, and whether it is near electrical equipment. The line is (833) 490-5225.
Fans and a dehumidifier can help with a small, clean spill that is caught within hours. They do not reach water inside walls, under pad or in the subfloor, and that moisture is what keeps mold growing. If the water came from a sewer or a flood, or the wet area is bigger than a bath mat, call for help instead.
Many standard homeowners policies exclude sewer backup, so check your policy or ask your agent. Coverage for it usually requires an endorsement added before the loss. The crew can document the damage for your claim, but your insurer decides what is covered.
No. Water removal and drying come first, and mold is handled separately if it is already present. Kansas does not license mold remediation the way some states do, and KDHE says it does not regulate mold in homes. Ask which industry guidance the crew follows, such as the ANSI/IICRC S520 standard and EPA mold guidance.
No. Fixing a pipe, replacing a water heater, or clearing or replacing the sewer lateral needs a licensed plumber. The crew can shut the water off at the valve, tarp or board up an opening, and clean and dry afterward. Look up the plumber in the Johnson County contractor search.
Look up the company in the county's online contractor search, and ask which IICRC certifications its technicians hold. IICRC is an industry certification body, not a licensing agency. Ask for the written agreement before work starts. Kansas law gives a three-day right to cancel many sales signed at home, so check with the Kansas Attorney General's office if you are unsure whether it applies to an emergency job.