24/7 Emergency Dispatch · IICRC S500 Certified
Water Damage Restoration
Bringing Your Home Back to Life.
A burst pipe doesn't wait for business hours, and neither do we. CPR extracts the water, dries the structure to a documented standard, and bills your carrier directly — one family-owned crew from the first call through the final coat of paint.
CPR — Complete Property Restoration provides 24/7 emergency water damage restoration for homes and businesses throughout the Houston metro and surrounding Texas communities. We handle slab leaks, burst supply lines, appliance failures, roof and storm intrusion, and sewage backups — from emergency extraction through structural drying, antimicrobial treatment, and full reconstruction.
Everything we do is performed to the IICRC S500 Standard for Professional Water Damage Restoration, the industry reference your insurance adjuster is working from too. That matters more than it sounds: a job dried to standard and documented properly is a claim that gets paid. A job that isn't becomes a fight you have to have while living in a damaged house.
Water Damage Is a Clock, Not an Event
The water stops spreading. The damage doesn't. What changes between hour one and hour seventy-two is the size of the job — and who pays for it.
Still Mitigable
Water is migrating laterally and wicking up drywall, but materials are largely salvageable. Extraction and drying now usually means no demolition and no rebuild.
Microbial Threshold
In Southeast Texas humidity, mold begins colonizing wet organic material. Carpet padding and baseboard cross out of salvageable. Under S500, Category 1 water degrades to Category 2.
Structural
Subfloors swell and delaminate. Framing holds moisture. Drywall now has to be cut out rather than dried in place. The scope shifts from mitigation to reconstruction.
Category 3
Water is presumed grossly contaminated regardless of its original source. Stricter containment and disposal protocols apply, and carriers scrutinize delayed mitigation closely.
Timelines reflect IICRC S500 guidance under typical Gulf Coast conditions. Actual progression varies with material, airflow, and ambient humidity.
How the Standard Classifies Your Loss
The Three Categories of Water
Not all water damage is the same job. The category determines what can be dried, what has to be removed, and what your policy will cover — so we establish it on the first walkthrough and document it.
Originates from a sanitary source — a supply line, a water heater, an overflowing tub, rainwater intrusion. It poses no immediate health risk at the moment of release.
What we do: Extract and dry in place wherever possible. Most contents and building materials are saved. This is the least expensive and least disruptive outcome, and it is entirely dependent on speed.
Contains significant contamination and can cause illness on contact or ingestion — dishwasher and washing machine discharge, toilet overflow without solids, or Category 1 water that has sat long enough to degrade.
What we do: Extract, remove porous materials that can't be reliably cleaned (carpet pad, some insulation), apply antimicrobial treatment, then dry and verify.
Grossly contaminated. Sewage backups, rising floodwater from creeks and bayous, and any water that has been standing long enough to support microbial growth.
What we do: Containment first. Saturated porous materials are removed and disposed of rather than dried — drywall, carpet, pad, insulation. Structural drying and antimicrobial treatment follow, with post-remediation verification before anything gets rebuilt.
One insurance note worth knowing up front: a sudden, accidental discharge inside your home — a burst pipe, a failed water heater — is typically covered by a standard homeowners policy. Rising water that enters from outside is typically not, and falls under separate flood coverage (NFIP or private). We document the loss either way and work with whichever carrier applies, but it's better to hear this from us on day one than from an adjuster on day ten.
What Actually Floods Homes in North Houston
We work one metro, and the same handful of failures account for most of what we see.
- Slab leaks. The expansive clay soil under most of Harris and Montgomery County swells and shrinks with every wet-dry cycle, stressing under-slab supply lines until they fail. The first sign is often a warm spot on the floor or an unexplained water bill, not visible water.
- Hard-freeze pipe bursts. Attic-run plumbing in two-story homes is the regional weak point — Winter Storm Uri proved it at scale, and every Arctic front since has produced the same calls. A single ruptured line in an attic can saturate two floors before anyone's awake.
- Storm and roof intrusion. Wind-driven rain and hail damage let water in above the ceiling, where it spreads through insulation and travels well away from the entry point before it ever shows up on a wall.
- Appliance and water heater failure. Supply lines to washing machines, dishwashers, refrigerators, and aging water heaters fail without warning — frequently while the house is empty.
- Creek and bayou flooding. Spring Creek, Cypress Creek, and the bayou system have a long documented flooding history through major storm events. This is Category 3 work, and it's a different job from a burst pipe.
- Sewage backups. Line blockages and municipal surcharge during heavy rain push contaminated water back into the lowest fixtures in the house.
From First Call to Final Walkthrough
Our Water Damage Process
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01
A Real Person Answers
Our own dispatcher — never an IVR, never an out-of-state call center. We take the details, tell you how to make the property safe right now, and give you an honest ETA for your specific address.
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02
Inspection & Moisture Mapping
Thermal imaging and penetrating meters find the water you can't see — inside wall cavities, under flooring, above ceilings. We establish the category and class of loss and record baseline readings.
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03
Source Control & Extraction
We stop the water first, then pull it out with truck-mounted and portable extraction units. Removing standing water early is the single largest lever on how much drying is needed later.
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04
Controlled Demolition, Only Where Needed
Where materials can't be reliably dried or decontaminated, they come out. Where they can be saved, they stay. We don't remove drywall to make a job look bigger.
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05
Structural Drying
Air movers and LGR dehumidifiers, positioned to a calculated drying plan rather than scattered around the room. We return to log readings until materials hit documented dry standard — not until the floor feels dry to the touch.
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06
Antimicrobial Treatment & Verification
Affected surfaces are treated to prevent microbial growth, and we verify dryness with instrument readings before equipment leaves the property.
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07
Reconstruction
Drywall, texture, paint, flooring, trim, cabinetry. The same company that dried your house rebuilds it, so nothing gets lost in a handoff between a mitigation crew and a general contractor.
Documented Like Evidence
Every water job we run produces a file: photographs before, during, and after; a moisture map of the affected areas; daily atmospheric and material readings for the duration of drying; equipment counts and placement; and a written scope of work.
That file is what your adjuster needs to approve the claim, and it's what protects you if the scope is questioned later. It's also why we take readings on a schedule instead of estimating — an undocumented dry-out is a dispute waiting to happen.
We bill your carrier directly. You handle your family; we'll handle the paperwork.
- Thermal imaging camerasLocate hidden moisture behind finished surfaces
- Penetrating & non-invasive metersQuantify moisture content in materials
- Truck-mount & portable extractorsBulk water removal at volume
- LGR dehumidifiersPull moisture out of air and materials at low grain depression
- High-velocity air moversDrive evaporation from wet surfaces
- HEPA air scrubbersFilter airborne particulate during Category 2 and 3 work
Why Homeowners Call CPR
Built on Certifications, Not Commercials.
CPR was founded by Tim and Dana, who bring more than ten years in Texas real estate and property operations to every job — the judgment of an owner, not the script of a franchise.
Service Areas
CPR is dispatched from our home base in Spring, Texas and responds throughout the Houston metro and surrounding communities. Response times vary by distance — call and we'll give you a straight answer for your address.
Communities We Serve
Water Damage FAQs
Straight answers to what Houston-area homeowners ask us most.
How quickly do I need to act after water damage?
Immediately. Mold can begin growing on wet organic material within 24 to 48 hours in our humidity, and under the IICRC S500 standard clean water degrades to gray water at roughly 48 hours. The practical difference is large: a fast dry-out often means no demolition at all, while a delayed one usually means removing and rebuilding drywall, flooring, and trim. Call as soon as you find the water, even overnight.
Can't I just dry it out myself with fans?
Surface drying and box fans handle what you can see, and water damage is mostly what you can't. Water wicks up inside wall cavities, spreads under flooring, and saturates insulation, and household fans don't move enough air or remove enough humidity to dry a structure to standard. The common outcome is a floor that feels dry with a mold problem developing behind the baseboard six weeks later. If it's a small spill on a hard surface caught immediately, mop it. Anything that reached drywall, carpet, or subfloor needs metered verification.
Will my homeowners insurance cover this?
It depends on the source. Sudden and accidental discharge from inside the home — a burst pipe, a failed supply line, a water heater rupture — is typically covered by a standard policy. Damage from long-term seepage or lack of maintenance typically is not. Rising water entering from outside falls under separate flood coverage rather than a homeowners policy. We document the loss thoroughly either way, bill your carrier directly, and tell you honestly which category we think you're in — though your adjuster makes the final determination.
How long does the drying process take?
Most residential dry-outs run three to five days, but it depends on how much water there was, what materials got wet, and how long it sat before we arrived. Hardwood and plaster take longer than carpet and drywall. We don't pull equipment on a schedule — we pull it when meter readings confirm materials have reached dry standard, and you get the readings.
Do I have to move out during restoration?
Usually not. Most water losses are contained to part of the home and families stay put, though drying equipment is loud and runs continuously. You may need to relocate for Category 3 losses, when a large portion of the home is affected, or when reconstruction involves kitchens or the only bathroom. If your policy includes loss-of-use coverage, it may pay for temporary housing — we'll flag that for your adjuster.
What should I do before the crew arrives?
Safety first: if there's standing water near outlets or the electrical panel, or any question about structural integrity, stay out and wait for us. If it's safe, shut off the water at the main, and photograph the damage widely and close-up before you move anything. Don't discard damaged items — your adjuster may need to see them. Lift what you can off wet carpet and don't run the HVAC if you suspect sewage or mold, since it will distribute contamination through the house.
Do you handle the reconstruction too, or just the drying?
Both. We're a complete restoration company, not a mitigation-only outfit, so the same team that extracts and dries also rebuilds — drywall, texture, paint, flooring, trim, and cabinetry. That matters because the most common place a restoration claim stalls is the handoff between the drying company and a separate general contractor. There's no handoff here.
Are you a franchise?
No. CPR — Complete Property Restoration is family-owned by Tim and Dana and based in Spring, Texas. When you call, you get us or someone we personally trained, and when we arrive it's our truck, our crew, and our reputation on the line.