Extraction, drying and cleanup for offices, warehouses, campuses and apartment buildings across Columbus and central Ohio.
Fastest: call (833) 490-5225. Or send this and we call you back.
Commercial water damage cleanup covers offices, warehouses, campus buildings and apartment buildings in Columbus after a burst supply line, roof leak or sewer backup. A crew shuts the water off, pulls standing water out, sets drying equipment and checks moisture readings until materials are dry. Phones are answered 24/7, and a crew is dispatched as fast as one is available.
Commercial buildings in Columbus take water the same way houses do, but a shutdown costs more and the building is harder to empty. A broken supply line over a warehouse floor, a roof leak above an office ceiling or a sewer backup into a basement storeroom all start with water that has to come out before anything can dry.
The commercial areas here are large and varied. The Rickenbacker, Groveport, New Albany and West Jefferson logistics belts, downtown offices and the Arena District, and the Ohio State, Otterbein and Capital campuses each have different building types and different occupants.
Start with the building rather than the water. Which floor or tenant is affected, what the water touched, and who owns the repair decide the order of work. The Columbus area page lists the city's neighborhoods.
Do not wade into standing water in a commercial space, especially near panels, motors, elevators or a mechanical room. Shut off water at the valve or main only if you can reach it safely. Treat sewer backup and river water as contaminated and keep staff and visitors out. Do not cut into walls or start demolition in a building that may predate 1980, and do not attempt pipe or drain repair yourself, since that belongs to a licensed plumber.
Large floors along the Rickenbacker, Groveport, New Albany and West Jefferson belts can take water from a supply line, a roof leak or a loading area. Work often has to be planned around trucks and stored product. Cleanup may be done in sections so part of the floor stays in use. See the water damage restoration page for the drying process.
Downtown and Arena District offices usually take water from above, through a ceiling or a wall cavity, so the damage often shows first in finished tile or paint. Drying is planned around occupied floors, and the crew isolates the affected rooms where it can.
Buildings at the Ohio State, Otterbein and Capital campuses, and apartment stock in Northland and along Brice Road, share walls and risers. One unit's leak can run into the one below, so the crew checks neighboring units as well.
Sewage and sewer backup are Category 3 water, which means porous materials are usually removed and occupants are kept out until the area is cleaned and dry. Read the sewage backup cleanup page for the sequence.
If it's an emergency, call now. For non-urgent commercial water damage, send the form and we'll call you back.
Yes, mainly in scope and paperwork. The drying method is the same, but the crew also works around tenants, operations and shared systems.
A house usually has one owner and one wet area to map. A commercial building may have several tenants, shared walls and a mechanical room that serves more than one suite, so the crew first finds out which spaces are wet and which systems carry the water.
Ask the crew which drying standard it follows. The reference for water work is ANSI/IICRC S500, and the same readings-until-dry logic applies.
Logistics buildings, office and campus buildings, and apartment stock are the main commercial types a crew sees here.
Distribution buildings on the logistics belts hold large open floors where one burst line can wet product, racking and the slab in a single event. Cleanup has to fit around the trucks.
Office and campus buildings tend to show damage from above, through ceilings and wall cavities, while apartment buildings in Northland and along Brice Road spread leaks between units.
Size, the category of water, the materials and how far the water reached decide the scope. The price is explained and confirmed on site before any work begins.
The wet area and the number of rooms or floors it reached matter most. Clean water from a supply line is usually simpler than gray water from a discharge or black water from a sewer backup or rising floodwater. Finished drywall, carpet, raised flooring and old subfloor each add removal and drying time, and a long delay before the water was found adds more.
Access and occupancy also count, including locked mechanical rooms, floors that must stay open and after-hours work. Repairs after drying are quoted once someone has seen the wet area. The cost guide explains these factors in more detail.
A crew stops the water and handles drying and cleanup. Pipe, drain and water-heater repair go to a licensed plumber, who in Columbus must also be registered with the city.
Plumbing work is licensed in Ohio. The Ohio Construction Industry Licensing Board, in the Ohio Department of Commerce, licenses commercial contractors in five specialty trades, plumbing among them. In the City of Columbus, a plumbing contractor holds the state license, is registered with the city, and posts a bond.
Trade permits are pulled by the registered contractor after the building permit is issued, and an owner cannot buy a permit for work a contractor will do. West Jefferson and the outer parts of New Albany, Westerville, Reynoldsburg, Dublin and Canal Winchester fall under the county or city building department where the building is.
Older buildings can contain asbestos or lead-based paint, so the crew may stop and check before cutting into a wall. Ohio does not license mold remediation the way some states do, so mold work follows industry guidance.
Many older buildings here predate 1978, and pre-1980s materials such as joint compound, textured ceilings, floor tile and pipe insulation can contain asbestos. Demolition and flood cuts disturb them. Check with Ohio EPA and your local health district before those materials are removed, and ask about the EPA lead Renovation, Repair and Painting rule for pre-1978 buildings.
Ask any company what standard it works to for mold. EPA mold guidance and ANSI/IICRC S520 are the references to ask about, along with whether containment or a separate assessment is needed.
Shut off the water at the nearest valve or main if it is safe to reach, and move people away from standing water near power, motors and panels. The crew confirms the source and whether the water is clean, gray or contaminated before it starts. Phones are answered 24/7, and a crew is dispatched as fast as one is available.
Moisture meters and thermal imaging find water inside walls, under flooring and above ceilings, not only on the surface. Readings are recorded room by room, so the drying plan covers every space that took water.
Standing water is pulled out, and air movers and dehumidifiers are set in the affected rooms. The emergency stage is explained and approved before work starts, so the building's operator knows what the crew will do first.
Readings are taken again each day, and equipment moves as the numbers change. The crew can provide photos and moisture readings to share with your insurer for documentation.
Materials that cannot be dried, such as wet drywall, pad or subfloor, come out, and repair is quoted separately after drying. Any pipe or drain repair goes to a licensed plumber.
Commercial calls in central Ohio cluster where the freight moves. The Rickenbacker, Groveport, New Albany and West Jefferson belts cross the Franklin, Licking and Madison county lines, so one event can involve buildings under different building departments. Groveport sits in Franklin County, while West Jefferson is in Madison County.
Downtown and the Arena District sit near the Scioto and Olentangy confluence. The city has stormwater projects in the Arena District aimed at reducing flooding, but a building still needs its own drainage checked after heavy rain. The National Weather Service warnings for 19 and 20 August 2026 named Columbus, Worthington, Bexley and the Ohio State campus, with river and overland flooding.
Winter brings the most pipe calls. Exterior walls, unheated garages, crawl spaces and vacant units over the holidays are the usual trouble spots. The normal first 32°F is 27 October and the normal last is 18 April. Check an address on FEMA's Flood Map Service Center, because flood needs its own policy and a standard policy generally does not cover it.
Not sure if you're covered? Check your ZIP code.
Extraction, drying and cleanup for Columbus homes and businesses, with phones answered 24/7 and a crew dispatched as fast as one is available.
Standing water comes out first, then the drying starts. How a crew handles emergency water removal in Columbus basements and ground floors.
Equipment and daily moisture readings to dry plaster, hardwood, framing and finished basements in Columbus homes.
Cleanup after sewage or sewer backup, treated as contaminated water. Phones answered 24/7; a crew dispatched as fast as one is available.
Phones are answered 24/7, and a crew is dispatched as fast as one is available. No arrival time can be promised, because it depends on open jobs and travel. Emergency steps such as stopping the water and setting drying equipment start once the crew is on site.
No. The crew can document the damage with photos and moisture readings for your claim. Coverage is decided by your insurer under your policy, so ask your agent what the policy says about sudden water damage, sewer backup and flood before work starts.
No. Pipe, drain, sewer lateral and water-heater repair need a licensed plumber, and in Columbus that plumber must be registered with the city. The crew can stop the water at the shut-off, tarp or board an opening, and clean and dry afterward.
Ohio has no state license specific to water mitigation, so the answer depends on the trade. Ask the crew which licenses and certifications it holds, including whether its technicians hold IICRC credentials. Check plumbing licenses with the issuing office. This site does not publish a license number.
Ohio law gives buyers a three-business-day right to cancel many contracts signed outside a seller's regular place of business. Ask the company for the written agreement and the cancellation notice. If you are unsure whether it applies to an emergency job, check with the Ohio Attorney General's office.
Report sewer backups to the city's Sewer Maintenance Operations Center at 614-645-7102, or call 311. Ask the crew how it will handle contaminated materials and whether it will provide a written disposal plan. Keep people out of the affected area until it has been cleaned and dried.