Contact Geist Water Restoration

What should Geist homeowners do in the first hour after a leak?

Start with safety and the water supply, and call us while you work down this list.

• Unplug nearby electronics only if the outlet and the floor around it are dry, and leave anything sitting in water where it is until the power is off.
• For a leak at one fixture, close the small valve under the sink or behind the toilet. For anything bigger, use the main valve, which is usually in the basement near the meter.
• If the water is rising from outside, don't try to hold it back with towels. Move what you can to higher ground, and call when it's safe to talk.
• If a frozen pipe split, close the main valve before it thaws further, and skip open flames or heat guns on the pipe.
• A full sump pit with a quiet pump usually means a power problem or a stuck float. Check the outlet and the breaker only if the floor around the pit is dry.
• Hang up wet rugs or clothing somewhere they can drip, and open interior doors so air can move through the wet area.
• The EPA's mold guide puts the drying window at 24 to 48 hours for water damaged areas and items, so the sooner the crew can start, the better your odds of keeping mold out.
• Hold off on permanent repairs until you've read your policy. The claim tips from the Indiana Department of Insurance explain why.

What questions come up on the first call?

Our team asks the same short set of questions on every call, because the answers decide which equipment goes on the truck.

• What started it, if you know, like a burst pipe or rain coming in.
• What the water looks and smells like, which tells the crew whether it's clean or contaminated.
• Which rooms in the finished basement are wet and whether the water reached the walls.
• When you first noticed it, because the drying plan depends on how long materials have been wet.
• The age of the house, if you know it. Homes in Geist date mostly from the 1970s to 1990s, and the decade tells the crew what kind of pipes to expect.
• If there's a dog or other pet the crew should know about.
• If any outlets or appliances are in the water.

Answer what you can, and the crew will fill in the rest during the first visit.

What does the first visit look like?

The crew starts by finding the source and making sure it's stopped, and they check that the power in the wet area is safe before any equipment goes in.

Before anything is moved or removed, the crew documents the damage with photos and moisture readings for the photo report.

Our water restoration manager is IICRC certified. The IICRC's S500 standard covers professional water damage restoration, and its S520 standard covers mold remediation.

Once the damage is documented, someone walks you through it in plain terms, and the decision about insurance stays with you. Check your own policy for what it covers.

Once you give the go ahead, extraction and drying start. The crew comes back to check the readings and moves equipment as areas dry out.

What should the crew know about homes in Geist?

A lot of Geist dates from the 1970s to 1990s. In homes that age, water heaters and washer hoses are common sources of leaks. Typical houses here are two story and Colonial Revival homes. A finished basement changes the drying plan, and they're common in this area. Low lying lots near Geist Reservoir are more likely to take on outside water in a big storm. Winter freeze and thaw cycles can split pipes in outside walls and unheated spaces, which is why winter leaks often start at an outside wall. Tell the person who answers what you know, and the crew will take it from there.

Is your neighborhood in the Geist service area?

You can reach the crew from anywhere in Geist, including these neighborhoods:

• Masthead at Geist · finished basements are common
• Feather Cove · homes from the 1980s to 1990s, many with finished basements
• Admirals Bay · homes from the 1990s, many with finished basements
• Admirals Pointe · much of it from the 1980s to 1990s, basements are common
• Admirals Sound · built mostly in the 1990s, finished basements are common
• Bridgewater at Geist · homes from the 1990s to 2000s, many with finished basements

Calls from nearby Bridgewater, Windermere, Stonewater, Hawthorns, Lake Stonebridge, Spyglass Falls, Sandstone and Sandstone Lakes reach the same team. For addresses near the edge of the service area, call and the team will check whether a crew can get there. The service pages cover each job in more detail, starting with water damage restoration and basement flooding.

What do Geist homeowners ask before they call?