When a Home Goes Underwater: A Complete Main Level Flood Restoration in Monroe

You know that sinking feeling when you walk into your house and realize something's very, very wrong? That's exactly what happened to a family in Monroe when they discovered their entire main level under several inches of water. Not just one room. Not just the bathroom. Every. Single. Room.

At The Homestar Group, we've seen our share of water damage restoration over the past 15 years, but whole-home floods like this one always hit different. This wasn't a slow leak that went unnoticed or a burst pipe in one bathroom. This was the kind of flooding that changes everything in an instant and leaves homeowners wondering where to even start.

The call came in on a weekday afternoon. The family had been out for just a few hours, and when they returned home, water was everywhere. Hallways, bedrooms, living spaces, kitchen, the flood had spread across the entire main level like it owned the place.

The Damage: More Than Just Wet Floors

When our team arrived, the scene was exactly what you'd expect from a major flood event. Standing water throughout the home, soaked flooring in every direction, and that unmistakable musty smell that tells you moisture has gotten into places it definitely shouldn't be.

Here's what we were dealing with:

• Saturated laminate and carpet flooring throughout the entire main level
• Water-damaged hallways connecting every room
• Flooded bedrooms with moisture creeping up the walls
• A soaked kitchen and family room
• Compromised subflooring underneath it all

The tricky thing about floods like this? Water doesn't just sit on top of your floors and call it a day. It seeps into everything. Baseboards. Drywall. Subfloors. And if you don't address it quickly and thoroughly, you're looking at mold growth within 24 to 48 hours, according to the EPA.

Our Response: Fast, Thorough, and Strategic

This is where experience matters. A lot of homeowners think water damage restoration is just about drying things out, but it's way more involved than that. At The Homestar Group, we follow IICRC standards because we know that cutting corners now means bigger problems later.

Step 1: Emergency Water Extraction

First things first, we had to get that standing water out of there. Our team brought in commercial-grade extraction equipment and got to work immediately. The faster you remove water, the less secondary damage you'll see. Every minute counts when you're trying to save a home from long-term moisture issues.

Step 2: Removing Damaged Materials

Next came the hard part. All that beautiful flooring the family had? It had to go. Laminate flooring and water are not friends, and carpet that's been sitting in flood water isn't salvageable. We carefully removed:

• All compromised flooring materials from every room
• Water-damaged baseboards and trim
• Sections of drywall that had wicked up moisture
• Any materials that showed signs of saturation

It might seem dramatic to rip everything out, but here's the thing: hidden moisture is your enemy. You can't see it, but it's there, creating the perfect environment for mold and structural damage. We use moisture meters to check everything, not just the obvious wet spots.

Step 3: Drying and Dehumidification

Once the damaged materials were out, we set up our drying equipment throughout the home. Industrial air movers, commercial dehumidifiers, the works. This isn't something you can do with a few box fans from Target, professional equipment makes all the difference.

We monitored moisture levels daily, making sure every surface was drying properly. Subfloors, wall cavities, you name it. According to research on water damage restoration best practices, proper drying is critical to preventing future problems. We don't move forward until our meters tell us everything's bone dry.

Step 4: Reconstruction and Restoration

Here's where things started looking up for the Monroe family. With everything dried out and safe, we moved into the reconstruction phase. New flooring went down throughout the entire main level. Fresh drywall replaced anything that had been damaged. Baseboards and trim were installed. Paint went up.

The transformation was pretty incredible. What had been a waterlogged disaster zone turned back into a beautiful, comfortable home.

The Final Result: Like It Never Happened

Looking at the finished space, you'd never know this home had experienced such devastating flooding just weeks earlier. Every room on the main level was restored to its original condition. Actually, the family joked that some rooms looked even better than before.

The hallways were pristine. The bedrooms were cozy and dry. The kitchen and living areas were ready for family life to resume. Most importantly, the home was safe. No hidden moisture. No mold concerns. No structural issues lurking behind the walls.