Water & Fire Damage Drywall Repair

Water & Fire Damage Drywall Repair

When wet drywall has to come out

Drywall is gypsum in paper. Once it's been wet for more than a day it loses its strength, the paper delaminates, and the core becomes a place mold can grow. A stain that dried quickly from a one-time overflow can sometimes be sealed and painted; board that stayed wet, sagged, softened or grew anything has to be cut out. We tell you which you have at the estimate, and we don't paint over the second kind.

• Ceiling stains from a roof, ice-dam or upstairs plumbing leak — the most common call, and the one most often painted over too early
• Bulging or sagging board — the core has failed; it comes out to the nearest framing
• Basement walls after seepage or a burst pipe — usually the bottom two to four feet, replaced with mold-resistant board
• Soft spots around windows and doors — water tracking behind trim or flashing
• Fire and smoke — charred board replaced; smoke-stained but sound board sealed with a stain-blocking primer before finish

Water & Fire Damage Drywall Repair

The order matters: source, dry, then drywall

1. Fix the source first — A plumber, roofer or restoration company stops the water. Drywall repaired before that just gets wet again, so we won't start until it's done — and we'll say so.
2. Confirm it's dry — The framing and any insulation behind the board need to be dry. Restoration companies use meters; if there isn't one on the job, we check before we close anything up.
3. Cut out the damage — Damaged board comes out cleanly to the framing, wet insulation with it. The cut is squared so the new piece has solid backing on every edge.
4. Replace, tape and finish — New board goes in — mold-resistant where the area is prone to moisture — taped, finished and sanded flush with the surrounding wall or ceiling.
5. Match the texture — The existing knockdown, orange peel or hand texture is rebuilt over the repair and feathered wide, especially on ceilings, so the patch can't be found in afternoon light.
6. Prime and paint — Stain-blocking primer over the repair and any smoke-stained areas, then our sister team at Wild Fox Painting repaints to blend. Two specialty teams, one coordinated handoff — one estimate, one schedule, one point of contact.

Water & Fire Damage Drywall Repair

Working with restoration companies and insurance

Most water and fire jobs come to us through a restoration company or an insurance claim, and we're set up for that. The restoration crew handles extraction, drying and demolition; we handle putting the drywall back. Our estimate is itemized by area and step so it drops straight into the claim, and we'll coordinate the schedule so the drywall goes in the day the moisture readings clear rather than a week later. If you're managing the claim yourself, tell us and we'll write the estimate the way an adjuster wants to read it.