Learn Water Damage Restoration

Water Categories 1, 2, 3

Clean, gray, and black water

Damage Classes 1–4

Evaporation load explained

Restoration Process

Step-by-step professional workflow

Psychrometrics & Drying

The science behind structural drying

Moisture Mapping

Finding hidden water damage

IICRC Certification

What WRT and ASD mean

How to Dry a House

Professional drying process

Wet Drywall Guide

Save or replace decision tree

Mitigation vs Restoration

Two phases of recovery

IICRC S500 Standard

The ANSI/IICRC S500 Standard for Professional Water Damage Restoration — the industry bible.

IICRC S520 Standard

Standard for Professional Mold Remediation.

WRT Certification

IICRC Water Restoration Technician certification.

Category 1 Water (Clean Water)

Sanitary water from broken supply lines, melting ice, or rainwater — lowest health risk.

Category 2 Water (Gray Water)

Contaminated water with chemical or biological content — moderate health risk.

Category 3 Water (Black Water)

Grossly contaminated water — biohazard requiring professional decontamination.

Class 1 Water Damage

Least amount of water absorption — affects only part of a room.

Class 2 Water Damage

Significant water absorption into materials — entire room affected.

Class 3 Water Damage

Greatest amount of water absorption — ceilings, walls, floors, insulation saturated.

Class 4 Water Damage

Specialty drying — low permeance materials like hardwood, plaster, concrete.

Water Mitigation

Emergency response to stop damage from spreading — extraction, drying, antimicrobial treatment.

Water Damage Restoration

Rebuilding property to pre-loss condition after mitigation is complete.