‘A phone call a minute’: Restoration company swamped after rainstorm

It was a crazy day in the Queen City on Friday: Torrential downpours, flooded underpasses, abandoned vehicles … and for some, a water-damaged basement.

Project manager Mike Payne at Restorex Disaster Restoration said he woke up to his phone ringing in the early hours.

“My phone started ringing at 6 a.m.,” Payne said. “It hadn’t stopped until 8 a.m., until we switch over to our office line.

“Our office line has not stopped ringing since then. We’re looking at probably a phone call a minute.”

The majority of callers were homeowners in Regina, with some from Moose Jaw. From a sopping wet carpet to water as high as a foot and a half, all of those impacted were facing the same issue: A water-damaged basement.

With his rubber boots packed in his vehicle, Payne was en route to one home during his interview. He said the house had water as high as the second stairwell of the basement.

“It’s pretty standard what we are seeing,” he said. “It’s either sewer backups or window wells overflowing and going into the basement, or we actually are seeing some seepage issues where it’s coming out of the foundation. It’s kind of all over the place as far as how the water is penetrating the home.

“There is lots of structural damage to drywall or flooring, people’s belongings in the basement, whether it be furniture, personal belongings, or what have you getting damaged from the water.”

In situations like those, Payne explained a home will naturally want to have water move out in its natural way.

“Give it a bit of time,” he said. “(The water) should start dissipating in the basement as the sewer lines and the storm drains kind of catch up in the city, and you’ll see some of that water naturally flow from your basement.”

For those with water damage and flooding, Payne is asking for patience.

“It’s pretty tough to try to answer and have our staff get out to every call,” he said. “We would love to be able to support and help every client or every homeowner that’s going through a situation like this, but unfortunately, we just don’t have the resources.

“We do have over 20 emergency technicians that we send out, but when there’s this many homes, we are somewhat pressed to try and get to every home we want.”

In the meantime, homeowners can follow the following tips:

• Contact your insurance provider and make sure you have coverage;
• Take plenty of photos of damage for insurance documentation;
• Move personal belongings to higher and drier area; and,
• Contact a restoration professional.

“If you do feel like you want to do some work in your home, remove the carpet,” Payne said. “Carpets are basically a big sponge in your basement and that is what’s going to hold all the moisture, odour and all the nasty stuff.

“So if you have the wherewithal and the resources to do it, you can start removing your carpet and pad. Then basically once that’s done, hopefully at that point, a restoration professional or someone from Restorex can come out and support you at that point.”