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Mold inspection and removal, water damage drying

Mold and water damage
in Los Angeles,
traced to the source.

Musty closet or bubbling paint? We follow the moisture back to where it starts, then hand you a drawn map of every reading and our findings in writing.

Book an inspectionCall or text (310) 857-2520

There’s no charge for the inspection. You keep the map and our findings, whoever does the work.

Water coming in now?A crew can be there within the hour, day or night.Call (310) 857-2520
Hands holding a thermal camera toward a closet wall with a brown tide-line stain and peeling paint, the screen showing a cold band at the same height
FindingsBedroom 2 closet
Reads 38A dry wall in this house reads 11.

Source: the shower valve, behind the shared wall.

Closet back wallWork to do
Kitchen ceiling stain, old and dryLeave it

What are you noticing?

Something else? Book anyway and tell us in your own words.

Book an inspection
A person in plain gray work clothes, seen from behind, crouching to hold a moisture meter low on a plaster wall in a sunlit living room with an arched doorway

How an inspection goes

We start where you noticed it and work outward. A mark on a wall often appears a room or two from the leak that made it.

  1. 1

    We look and measure

    We walk the house with you, starting at the spot that worried you. A moisture meter and a thermal camera go over the walls and ceilings, and we read one wall we know is dry so every number has a baseline.

  2. 2

    We trace it to the source

    Water runs along framing and pipes before it shows. We follow the readings back to where it starts, which can be the bathroom upstairs or a supply line under the house.

  3. 3

    We sample only when it would change the answer

    Usually the readings and what we can see are enough. When samples would settle something, we tell you why and what they cost before taking any.

  4. 4

    You get the map and the findings

    Before we leave, we go through the map with you room by room. Then we tell you whether there’s work to do, and if there is, what we’d do first.

What the map shows

At the end of an inspection you’re handed your rooms drawn out, with every reading where we took it and the findings in plain sentences.

Moisture map and findingsLA Water Damage Experts
LIVING ROOMKITCHENLAUNDRYHALLBEDROOM 1HALL BATHCLOSETBEDROOM 24138261915121211SOURCEDRY WALLOLD STAIN, KITCHENRINGSShower valve, inside thebath wall, where thereadings peak.Bedroom 1 reads 11. Everynumber is read against it.Reads 12, the same as thedry wall. Leave it.Each ring joins points thatread the same. Where theybunch up, the damp isconcentrated.10 FT8 ROOMS AND THE ATTIC CHECKEDHALL BATHCLOSETBEDROOM 2SOURCESHOWER VALVE413826191512
  • Source: the shower valve, inside the bath wall, where the readings peak.
  • Rings join points that read the same. Where they bunch up, the damp is concentrated.
  • Dry wall: bedroom 1 reads 11, and every number is read against it.
  • Old kitchen stain: reads 12, the same as the dry wall. Leave it.

What we found

High readings in the wall between the hall bath and the bedroom 2 closet, peaking at the shower valve. Growth low on the closet’s back wall.

Where it comes from

The shower valve leaks inside the wall whenever the shower runs.

Is there work to do

Yes, in the closet and the lower bath wall. The kitchen ceiling stain is old and dry, so leave it.

Work to do: closet, bath wallLeave it: kitchen ceiling

What we’d do first

Have the valve repaired. Then we seal off the closet and take out the wet drywall and insulation. Clearance samples come before the wall is closed.

If it is mold

Removal follows the findings. Once the leak has been fixed, we close the work area off with plastic, and you keep using the other rooms.

Sealing off the work area

We hang plastic floor to ceiling with a zippered door. An air scrubber pulls air out through a HEPA filter, so the pressure inside stays a little lower than in the rooms around it and dust is drawn into the work area.

What gets cleaned, and what comes out

Framing and tile can usually be cleaned. Drywall and insulation that grew mold usually come out, because the growth goes into the material.

How many days

A closet or part of a bathroom wall usually takes a few days. A crawl space or several rooms can take one or two weeks, and the written scope gives you the days before you agree.

When it’s finished

We take air samples inside the work area and outdoors, and a lab compares them. The plastic stays up until the result passes, and you get a copy of the lab’s report.

No wall gets opened until you’ve seen the map.

Your scope is drawn from the map. Each ring zone turns into one line with its price, so every price on it points to a place in your house.

Written scopeLA Water Damage Experts
Inspection, map and findingsAlready done.Free
Inner rings: closet back wall, lower bath wallSeal off the closet and remove the wet drywall and insulation. Clearance samples before the wall is closed.Measured: The wall area inside the inner ringsPrice
Outer rings: bath wall above the tile, hallDried in place, with a reading at every visit.Measured: Days until it reads like the dry wallPrice
Checked, reads dry: kitchen ceiling stainNothing. Leave it.No charge
Source: shower valveRepaired by your plumber before we start.Plumber’s bill
Putting the walls backWritten up as its own scope once the area passes clearance.Own scope
Total for the work above
Your yesNothing starts until this line is signed.

If there’s an insurance claim

Your adjuster sees the same map and findings you keep, with the source marked and every reading beside it. Tell us who the adjuster is, and we’ll send both to them.

If you’re paying yourself

Financing is available for work insurance doesn’t cover. Ask when we go through the scope.

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What we handle

Where moisture hides in older LA houses

The way a house was built decides where water collects without anyone seeing it.

DENKITCHENHALLOPEN HERE3111

Slab floors in postwar ranches

Many 1950s ranch houses sit on a concrete slab with the water lines underneath. A leak there can make one patch of floor feel warm, or lift the flooring. We map the warm area so the plumber opens the floor in one place.

A pin moisture meter pressed into a plaster wall above the baseboard, beside a bathroom doorway with bubbled, peeling paint

Plaster and lath walls

Old plaster is slow and costly to open and patch, so we read through it first. The meter and the thermal camera show where it’s wet, and only that section gets opened.

A low crawl space seen through an access opening in a concrete foundation wall, with floor joists, pier blocks and a copper water line

Raised floors over a crawl space

Bungalows and Spanish revival houses from the 1910s to the 1930s often sit over a low dirt crawl space. A dripping supply line can soak the subfloor long before anything shows upstairs, and a smell in the room above is often the only clue. We crawl in through the access hatch with a flashlight and a moisture meter.

A Craftsman bungalow with a deep porch, river-rock piers and a small vent in its raised foundation, in late afternoon sun

Where we work

We work across Los Angeles, from the bungalow streets of West Adams and Highland Park to the hillside houses of Silver Lake and the slab ranches of Westchester and the San Fernando Valley. Culver City, Santa Monica, Burbank, Glendale, Pasadena and the South Bay beach cities are covered too. Inspections are booked at a time that suits you. If water is coming in, a crew can be there within the hour, day or night.

When a sale is waiting on the findings

A home inspector’s report often stops at a line about possible moisture. The map shows where that moisture is and how far it reaches, on one floor plan the buyer and the seller can both read.

A single-story Spanish revival house with white stucco, a clay tile roof and an arched front window, seen from across a quiet street

Tell us the closing date

Give us the date when you book, with the page of the report that names the problem. We read that spot first, then the rooms around it.

If you’re buying

The map shows whether the note is one damp wall or a problem that runs through several rooms. If there’s work, the scope prices each zone on the map, so a repair request can point to a line and a number.

If you’re selling

An old mark that reads like the dry wall is written up as dry, with both numbers beside it. If it’s wet, the scope shows you the work and its price, line by line.

Agents can book for a client. Name everyone who should get the map, and we’ll send it to each of them.

What people ask us about mold

If yours isn’t here, call or text and ask.

Call or text (310) 857-2520
Is it mold, or something else?

Dark marks can be candle soot or an old stain that dried long ago. We tell you our read and the reason, and if we can’t tell without a sample, we say so.

Do I need testing?

Samples earn their cost when a smell has no visible cause, or when a sale or a landlord needs it on paper. If the growth is in plain view and the cause is clear, a sample won’t change the plan. After removal, clearance samples always go to a lab.

Is black mold different?

Color doesn’t tell you which mold it is, and removal works the same way for all of them.

Will it come back?

Our guarantee covers the treated area for a year, as long as the water stays stopped. New water can start new growth, so a new leak isn’t covered.

Can we stay home while you work?

Most families stay put. The work area is sealed off and kept at a slightly lower air pressure. If a bedroom or the only bathroom is inside the plastic, we plan the days around you.

I rent. Can I book an inspection?

Yes, and it’s free. A musty smell is hard to describe over the phone. The map shows your landlord which wall is wet and where the water is coming from.

Will insurance pay for mold?

Mold that follows a sudden leak, like a burst supply line, is more often covered than mold from a slow drip. The findings name the source, and the map shows the readings around it, so your adjuster can see where the mold started.

Who fixes the leak?

Your plumber or roofer fixes it, on their own bill. The map shows them the one place to open.

Seen it or smelled it? Got a note from an inspector? Book an inspection.

Book an inspectionCall or text (310) 857-2520

Mold questions answered the same working day. After 5pm, first thing next morning.

A bedroom closet with a freshly painted white back wall and a new baseboard, shirts on wooden hangers and two woven baskets in afternoon light

Tell us what you’re noticing.

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Where you notice it, and when it’s worse. Name anyone else who should get the map.

Optional. Up to 3 photos of the job, 10 MB each.

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You’ll hear from us today. After 5pm, first thing next morning. Water coming in now? Call (310) 857-2520.