Removal and drying for flood water in south Urbana, where the upper Embarras runs through Meadowbrook Park.
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South Urbana flood water damage is water that came into a home or building in the south of Urbana, where the upper Embarras River runs through Meadowbrook Park. Champaign Water Damage Restoration answers calls around the clock, sends a local crew as soon as one is free, removes the water, and dries the structure to measured readings.
Urbana sits east of Champaign, and it is a separate city with its own streets, its own building department and its own housing. Its southern edge is where the upper Embarras River passes through Meadowbrook Park. A property that lies near that stretch of the river can take in water from the ground, from the surface or from a storm drain when the river is high, and the work to clear it is the same whichever way the water arrived.
The Embarras River rises inside Champaign County, and its upper reaches are the local water in this part of Urbana. The December 2015 flooding that the U.S. Geological Survey reported for the upper Embarras basin is the regional record. It does not describe any single street in south Urbana, so this page does not claim one.
A call from south Urbana usually begins with the same questions as any flood call: where the water is, whether it is still coming in, and whether the power to the wet area is off. The answers decide whether the crew starts with pumping or with clearing a blocked drain first.
Keep away from water that has reached outlets, cords and the electrical panel, and do not enter a wet basement until the power is confirmed off. Do not use a generator inside the house or in an attached garage. Do not handle wet insulation or soaked carpet with bare hands. Keep children and pets clear of the water and the drying equipment.
Before the crew goes in, the first step is to confirm the power to any wet area is off and to find where the water came in. Entry points such as a window well or a door at grade are noted, because they show where the water will keep coming from if it is not sealed.
Pumps and extraction equipment take out the standing water. Silt is cleared as the water drops, since it holds moisture against the floor and hides the true wet line.
Meters read the floor, the walls, the framing and the crawl space at set points. The readings are logged at the start so the drying has a target that can be checked.
Pad, carpet, insulation and the lower section of drywall are removed where they cannot be dried reliably. The technician shows which materials are coming out and why.
Air movers and dehumidifiers run until each measured area reaches the dry goal. The last check is recorded so the finish is shown in the log.
Water that soaks into the ground around a foundation can stay there after the surface has drained. Concrete, block and the soil against them release moisture slowly, so the lower level can stay damp for days after the visible water is gone.
The soil holds water for a long time after a flood, and the foundation wall acts as a slow path for it. When the water table is high, the pressure can push moisture through the wall and up the slab. That is why a basement can feel wet after the flood has gone, even when the floor looks dry.
A technician checks the wall and the slab with readings rather than by eye. A clean-looking surface does not show whether the framing behind it still holds water.
A sump that is working and has power should keep running to clear water from the pit, but its discharge should be checked so that it does not drain back toward the foundation. A sump that has failed should be repaired before the drying starts, because it can re-wet the room.
A pump that has been running for hours may be worn, and a failed float can leave the pit filling again without anyone noticing. Listen for the pump and watch the pit during the first visit. The crew will say whether the pump needs attention.
Repairing a pump is plumbing or electrical work, and those trades are outside this line. A technician will tell you what has to be done and who to ask for it.
Photograph the water line, the level on appliances, the damaged items and the outside grade where the water came in. These pictures help an insurer check the loss, and they show the technician where the water was.
Take wide photographs of each room and close ones of the lines and stains. Note the time each photograph was taken. If the water came from a window well or a door, photograph the ground outside as well, because the grade decides how the water arrives.
Do not throw out damaged items before they are photographed and listed. An insurer may ask to see what was lost, and some items are better kept until the claim is settled.
There is no fixed time, because drying depends on the structure and on the readings. A technician will say which rooms can be used during drying and which should be kept clear, and will update that with each check.
Some rooms can stay in use if the air movers are placed carefully and the cords are kept out of standing water. Others, such as a basement with equipment running, are better left closed. The crew explains the layout on the first visit.
A house with children, older residents or a pet may need a plan for the drying equipment, which is noisy and warm. Mention these on the phone so the crew can plan the setup.
Rebuilding the wall, replacing the floor and repairing the foundation or the sump are separate trades. The restoration crew dries and documents the structure, and the repair work goes to the trade that does it.
Once the readings are at the dry goal, the next step is repairs. Those are quoted by the trade that does the work, and they should be quoted only after the structure has been proved dry, since a repair over a wet cavity can hide mold and decay.
The technician will name the kind of work that is needed and the point at which it can begin. The decision about who does the repair is yours.
Groundwater that rises when the river is high can come up through the slab or along the foundation. It often leaves a wet line and damp framing rather than a deep pool, and the work centers on the lower wall, the sump and the floor.
A crawl space that takes in water fills from the ground up. The insulation, the vapor barrier and the joists all hold moisture, so the drying has to reach under the floor, which is where most of the time goes.
When storm drains back up, water can enter by the floor drain or the lowest fixture in the house. Clearing the blockage is part of the job, because the water will keep coming until the route is open.
South Urbana sits where the upper Embarras River passes through Meadowbrook Park. A property in this part of the city can take in water from the river or from the ground around it. Those are different routes, and the crew will check which one applies before it decides where to start.
Urbana and Champaign are twin cities in Champaign County, with the University of Illinois campus between them. A south Urbana address is not a Champaign address, and the calls, the crew and the paperwork follow the place the building is in. The same storm can reach both cities, but the local ground and drainage on each side are not the same.
The Kaskaskia River also rises in Champaign County near Urbana, which is part of why the water in this area has more than one origin. A crew does not assume the source. It reads the building and the ground around it.
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Emergency removal and drying for river flood water that reached a home or business in Champaign or Champaign County.
Removal and drying for water that reached a building in Champaign County from the Kaskaskia River area near Urbana.
Pumping, moisture checks and drying for crawl spaces and basements that took in flood, storm or ground water.
Air movers and dehumidifiers run until walls, floors and framing read dry in Champaign, Urbana and the county.
The Embarras River rises inside Champaign County, and its upper reaches run through detention ponds, the southern part of the University of Illinois campus and Meadowbrook Park in south Urbana.
Calls for south Urbana are taken by the same line, and a local crew is sent as soon as one is free. The building is in Urbana, so the paperwork and the local records follow Urbana rather than Champaign.
It can. A property near the river can take in surface water, groundwater and storm water in the same event. The crew reads the building to see which routes were used.
Clear what you safely can from the lowest floor, move valuables upward, and keep children and pets away from the water. Do not try to seal a crack or a window well while water is still moving.
The crew clears the water inside the building and checks whether a floor drain or outlet is carrying water back in. Work on an outside drain or a municipal line is for the owner or the authority responsible for it, and the technician will say who that is.
Yes. Walls and finishes are opened where the readings stay high, so the cavity can be seen and dried. The technician records what was found and shows it to you before anything is closed up.
Water that came through a floor drain is treated as contaminated and dealt with the same way as flood water from outside. The crew checks the drain and the trap, and the drying starts once the source is stopped.