Basement Flooding: Who to Call, by Where the Water Came From

When your basement floods from inside the house, the call is a water damage restoration company: it extracts the water, dries the walls and floor to measured readings, and documents the loss for your insurer. The only calls that can come before it are the ones that stop the water, and those depend on the source: you at the valve, a plumber, or the sump pump. This page is about who to call. If you are standing at the top of the stairs deciding what to do with your hands first, start with what to do when your basement floods and come back.

Who to Call When Your Basement Floods, by Source

Where the water came from decides who stops it. Who dries the basement does not change.

Basement Flooded: Who Do I Call First?

The order that protects the house and the claim is short:

1. 1Make the basement safe. If water is near outlets, a floor-level panel, the furnace or the water heater, do not walk into it. Cut the basement breakers from dry ground, or call the electric utility if the panel is down there. If you smell gas, leave and call the gas company from outside.
2. 2Stop the source, or call the trade that can. Close the main valve for any supply-side leak. For a sump that has stopped, check the breaker and the float before calling a plumber.
3. 3Call a water damage restoration company. Once no new water is coming in, this is the call that decides how much of the basement you keep.
4. 4Open the insurance claim the same day. Photograph everything first, then report it. You do not need the adjuster's permission to start drying; policies require you to prevent further damage, and extraction is exactly that.

The reason for this order is time. Wet drywall, carpet pad and the bottom plate of a stud wall start growing mold in 24–48 hours (the EPA's guidance is to dry wet materials within 24 to 48 hours). A plumber stops the water; a general contractor rebuilds afterward. Neither owns the extraction, the dehumidifiers or the moisture readings, and that is the work the clock is running on. The how fast mold grows guide explains why the wall cavity is where it starts.

Who to Call for Each Kind of Basement Water

Burst pipe or supply line. Close the main shutoff first; a pipe under pressure does not stop on its own. A plumber repairs the pipe, and a restoration company dries what it soaked. The who to call for a burst pipe guide covers finding the main when you have never used it.

Water heater. Close the cold-water valve on top of the tank, and turn the unit off at the breaker or the gas control. A leaking tank is almost always a replacement, which is a plumber's job.

Washing machine. Close both supply valves behind the washer.

Sump pump failure. Check that the pump has power and the float is not stuck against the side of the pit. If it still will not run, a plumber replaces it. The water that came up while it was off is a restoration job. See sump pump failure water damage.

Floor drain or sewer backup. Anything that came up through a floor drain, toilet or shower on the lowest level is treated as sewage (IICRC S500 Category 3) until someone tests it. Stop using every fixture in the house; each flush sends more water to the lowest drain. A plumber or sewer contractor clears the line; the cleanup is a restoration job, and porous materials it touched are removed rather than dried. The sewage backup guide has the detail.

Rain through a window well or wall. Storm water that comes in through a window well, a crack or the floor-wall joint during heavy rain is water inside your house, and drying it is a restoration job. It usually stops when the rain does.

When the Water Is Rising From Outside

If a river, storm surge or area-wide flood is rising around the house and into the basement, that is flood damage, and it follows a different path. Standard homeowners policies exclude it; it is covered only by a flood policy through the National Flood Insurance Program or a private flood carrier, and the cleanup is arranged through that claim. Our line is not for rising floodwater. Stay out of the water until local authorities say the area is safe, contact your flood insurer, and read water damage vs flood damage insurance to see which side of that line you are on.

Where Waterproofing Fits

A waterproofing contractor is not part of the emergency. Waterproofing keeps the next storm out; it does not dry the water already in the drywall. If water keeps getting in, permanent waterproofing is a separate decision you make later, with a different trade, after the basement is dry. The waterproofing vs water damage restoration guide explains which one you need.

If You Rent

A tenant cannot hire the restoration company for a building they do not own. Notify your landlord in writing, by text or email so there is a timestamp, with photos, and ask them to arrange the drying. Your own belongings fall under renters insurance, if you have it.

Who Pays for Basement Water Damage

Homeowners insurance generally covers damage from sudden, accidental water inside the house: a burst pipe, a failed water heater, a washer hose. It generally does not pay to repair the thing that failed.

Sump pump failures and drain or sewer backups are different. A standard policy excludes water that backs up through a drain or overflows a sump, and it is paid only if the policy carries a water backup endorsement (on many policies it is called "water backup and sump discharge or overflow"). Common limits run $5,000–$25,000, and the endorsement typically costs $40–$250 a year depending on the limit. Look at your declarations page before you call the insurer.

Most residential water damage jobs land around $2,000–$6,000. The basement flooding cost page shows what moves a basement up or down that range.

What Happens When You Call

(888) 840-6512 is answered 24/7 and connects you with an IICRC-certified water damage restoration company taking calls in your ZIP. There is no charge for the referral. Knowing what the call sounds like keeps you from hanging up early:

• You hear a short automated menu. Press 1 for water damage (2 is for mold).
• Enter the 5-digit ZIP of the property that is flooded, not where you are calling from.
• The line goes quiet for about half a minute while it connects. That is normal. Stay on.
• When a person answers, describe what is wet.

Have four things ready: the property address with the ZIP, when the water started as near as you know, what is wet now (which rooms, how deep, whether it is still coming in), and whether you have opened an insurance claim yet. Mention any sewage smell or any water that came up through a drain, because it changes how the job is handled.

The company gives you an arrival window for your address on that call. Scope and price are between you and them; ask how they bill and whether they work with your insurer before anyone starts.

If the call does not connect, your ZIP may not have a company taking calls at that moment. The IICRC's certified-firm locator at iicrc.org is the next place to look.