Our Process

Water damage restoration done correctly is a sequence of steps that must occur in a specific order, with specific instruments, against specific completion standards. Skipping a step or substituting a less precise instrument produces results that appear complete but are not — and the evidence of the failure appears six to eight weeks later as mold colonization through the new drywall or the new flooring. This page describes every step we take on every project, what instrument or protocol applies to each step, and why each step cannot be safely skipped or simplified.

Step 1 — Emergency Response and Source Identification

From 11268 S 2865 W in South Jordan, we reach most South Jordan neighborhoods in under ten minutes, Riverton and West Jordan in ten to fifteen minutes, and Sandy and Salt Lake City in fifteen to twenty minutes. Response time matters because the difference between a four-hour event and a twenty-four-hour event in an oriented strand board subfloor assembly is not proportional — four hours of discharge typically produces 35% to 50% moisture content in the OSB inner fiber layer. Twenty-four hours may produce inner fiber readings above 60%, with the floor-ceiling assembly cavity pooling and the first-floor ceiling drywall beginning to fail under water weight. Response time is not a quality claim about our service — it is a physics fact about what water does to building materials over time.

Source identification comes before extraction. The plumber or the homeowner needs to shut off the water supply at the main before extraction begins. For Category 3 events — sewage backup, outdoor floodwater — hydrogen sulfide assessment at the entry point and ventilation to below the OSHA permissible exposure limit of 20 parts per million come before any personnel enter the affected space without supplied air. Water damage category determination (Category 1, 2, or 3) at this step determines every subsequent protocol decision.

Step 2 — FLIR Thermal Imaging Before Any Equipment Placement

This is the step that distinguishes a correctly scoped project from an underscoped one — and it happens before any extraction equipment is placed, before any flooring is removed, and before any scope is submitted to an adjuster. FLIR thermal imaging captures the evaporative cooling differential between saturated and dry building materials — the drop in surface temperature produced by evaporating moisture at the wet material surface. In a Riverton 1990s two-story supply line event, the cold zone at the second-floor subfloor plate is typically 100 to 200 square feet. The visible wet area at the first-floor ceiling below it is typically 25 to 50 square feet. Equipment configured to address the 25-to-50-square-foot ceiling evidence will under-dry the 100-to-200-square-foot subfloor event above it.

The thermal map defines: the extraction equipment footprint; the drying equipment configuration; the investigation cut boundaries for wall or ceiling access; the controlled extraction port locations for enclosed floor-ceiling cavity water; and the monitoring point locations for the baseline penetrating meter readings that follow. No equipment is placed before the thermal map is complete. No scope is submitted before the thermal map is complete. The thermal map is the project.

Step 3 — Water Extraction

Truck-mounted extraction removes standing water from second-floor surfaces. Controlled 2-inch access ports at the lowest thermal points of first-floor ceiling cold zones extract pooled water from enclosed floor-ceiling assembly cavities — preventing ceiling panel collapse and eliminating the need for full ceiling replacement in the cold zone area. Weighted extraction tools and floor mat extraction systems at OSB subfloor surfaces create vacuum pressure across the panel face to draw moisture from the wood fiber toward the extraction surface before flooring removal is required.

For pre-1980 plaster-wall Sandy or Salt Lake City events where the moisture is distributed through the plaster substrate and framing rather than pooled on a surface — there is no extractable standing water. The response is wall opening to the FLIR thermal boundary, followed by direct treatment and structural drying of the opened assembly. The extraction approach is determined by the construction type and the event type, not by a single default protocol.

Category 3 extraction uses designated equipment — not shared with Category 1 or 2 events without full decontamination between uses. All Category 3 extraction personnel work within physical containment in full PPE: powered air-purifying respirators, double-gloved nitrile, sealed Tyvek coveralls.

Step 4 — Calibrated Penetrating Moisture Meter Baseline

After extraction and before any drying equipment is placed, calibrated penetrating moisture meters establish the baseline reading at every monitoring point. Monitoring point count ranges from 8 to 18 points per affected area depending on scope. For each point, we record: the specific location, the material type, the probe depth (OSB inner fiber layer vs. face layer; framing species for pre-1940 Douglas fir and Engelmann spruce vs. post-1980 hem-fir and SPF), the applicable dry standard for that material and species in this climate zone, and the baseline reading.

Dry standards by material: OSB subfloor inner fiber layer 10%–14%; dimensional lumber framing 12%–16% (with species-specific correction factors for Douglas fir, Engelmann spruce, and pine in pre-1940 construction); gypsum drywall within 4 percentage points of an unaffected reference reading in the same room. These are not targets to approach asymptotically. They are the standard that must be confirmed by penetrating instruments at the material level — not by surface meters, not by room ambient readings, and not by the homeowner touching the wall and concluding it feels dry.

Step 5 — Industrial Drying Equipment Deployment

Industrial low-grain refrigerant dehumidifiers are sized to the measured vapor load of the specific wet materials at the specific event location under the specific ambient psychrometric conditions — not to the room square footage, not to a formula that assumes contemporary construction, and not to a formula that ignores whether the event is occurring in April during Oquirrh Mountain snowmelt or in August during the North American Monsoon. Before finalizing equipment deployment, we measure outdoor psychrometric conditions — temperature, relative humidity, specific humidity, and dew point — and assess any ambient vapor sources that will contribute to the drying zone load beyond the acute event materials: Oquirrh Mountain snowmelt groundwater contribution in bench-neighborhood spring events, Great Salt Lake ambient humidity in Syracuse, Little Cottonwood Creek corridor groundwater in Sandy.

High-velocity air movers are positioned to maximize evaporation at wet material surfaces — directed across the OSB subfloor face toward the dehumidifier intake, creating cross-ventilation patterns that prevent moisture stratification in the enclosed drying zone. In tight 2000s construction envelopes with reduced natural air infiltration, positive pressure air mover configurations prevent the moisture-laden air at wet material surfaces from stratifying rather than circulating to the dehumidifier intake.

Step 6 — Daily Monitoring to Completion

Every monitoring point is read with calibrated penetrating instruments daily, at the same probe depth established at baseline, at the same time of day to minimize the thermal variation effects on readings. Readings are recorded with timestamps, plotted as a per-material drying curve, and provided to the homeowner and the insurance adjuster. The drying curve for each material type — OSB inner fiber, framing, masonry, plaster substrate — proceeds at different rates. A project is not complete when one material reaches dry standard. It is complete when all materials at all monitoring points reach their material-specific dry standard.

We do not remove equipment when the room ambient relative humidity reaches the target range. We do not remove equipment when the plaster surface reads within normal range on a scanning meter. We do not remove equipment when the homeowner observes that the flooring surface feels dry to the touch. We remove equipment when calibrated penetrating meter readings at all monitoring points confirm material-specific dry standard at the framing or inner fiber layer level for two consecutive daily readings. Any project closed before that confirmation is not complete — it is a project that will produce mold recurrence in the assembly left wet behind the new reconstruction.

Step 7 — Mold Remediation (When Indicated)

Events discovered after 24 to 48 hours of standing water at ambient temperature, galvanized pipe slow leaks that have been running for weeks or months before discovery, and chronic basement cold joint seepage cycling wet-and-dry for more than one season will typically have produced mold colonization in the adjacent cellulose substrate — Cladosporium and Aspergillus at 70% to 80% relative humidity in drywall paper facing; Stachybotrys chartarum in chronically saturated cellulose that has maintained above-90% relative humidity for an extended period. When calibrated penetrating meter readings, FLIR thermal imaging, and investigation cut sampling confirm mold colonization, remediation follows the ANSI/IICRC S520 Standard: physical containment, HEPA negative air pressure throughout removal, EPA-registered antimicrobial at required concentration and dwell time, and independent post-remediation clearance testing by a certified industrial hygienist not affiliated with True Day. We do not perform clearance testing on our own projects.

Step 8 — Insurance Documentation

Day-one insurance documentation is not a paperwork task at the end of the project — it is a live process that begins at arrival and continues through project close. From day one: timestamped site photographs documenting the event extent, source location, and material conditions; FLIR thermal imaging reports with annotated cold zone maps; calibrated penetrating meter baseline readings at all monitoring points; water damage category determination with the observable basis for the determination; and a written Xactimate-format scope that describes the work to be performed, the materials to be removed or dried, and the equipment deployment. Each day thereafter: updated psychrometric readings, daily penetrating meter readings at all monitoring points, and equipment deployment notes. At project close: the complete drying log with per-material drying curves confirming completion at dry standard.

We contact your carrier directly on day one and can communicate with the adjuster throughout the project if you prefer. The Duty to Mitigate clause in most homeowner policies requires reasonable steps to prevent additional damage from the date of loss. Professional extraction and drying initiated immediately after discovery satisfies that obligation. Waiting for an adjuster visit before beginning mitigation does not — and additional damage accruing during the wait may be attributed to the failure to mitigate rather than to the original event.

Step 9 — Reconstruction

Reconstruction begins the day drying is confirmed complete — not the following week when a subcontractor becomes available, and not before all monitoring points confirm dry standard. Under our Utah General Contractor License (#960332-3505), True Day performs all reconstruction within the restoration scope: drywall installation and finishing, flooring installation, painting, trim work, and structural repairs. Reconstruction is permitted and inspected where required by the applicable local building code. Final walkthrough confirms the restored space is within the documented pre-loss condition and meets applicable code requirements for the reconstruction performed.