DR Restore

We woke up to a flooded basement at 4am (sump pump issue) and started searching companies to remove water. Disaster Response responded quickly to my emergency phone call and was able to have a tech come first thing that morning. The tech was knowledgable and professional and did a very good job. They worked with us and our insurance company to receive payment and the customer service was excellent. We felt very thankful that Disaster Response had been there to take care of us because we had no idea what to do! I would 100% recommend them to anyone in need of their services!

I used Disaster Response for the first time in August 2012 when I discovered mold on the drywall in my basement. I was pretty freaked out because I had just bought the house six months earlier and the basement had been completely renovated and finished by the investor I purchased it from. Adam came out to perform the inspection and was very good about explaining everything and, more important, made me feel calmer about the situation. I scheduled an appointment for a few days later. They had an emergency water situation for another customer that day so they had to move my service back a day and they offered a discount and added an extra service to compensate me for the inconvenience. Adam did the work himself and was very professional. He had to cut out a section of drywall and a section of carpet and it was all done very cleanly. The job was completed in one day and he only had to come back a couple of days later to pick up the dehumidifier and remove the debris. The cost was exactly as estimated (~$2,200). At the end of October 2012, I was out of town for several weeks. When Hurricane Sandy hit, the drain behind my back door became clogged and backed up, flooding my basement. I called Disaster Response and even though they had received a huge number of service requests because of the hurricane, they moved me to the front of the list because I was a previous customer. Because I had worked with Adam before and trusted him completely, I was able to have him take care of everything from a distance. He called me to explain exactly what the situation was (since I couldn't see it) and again did a very professional job. And again the estimate matched the final cost. I was able to claim the damage through my home insurance and they accepted the cost without question. If I have any future issues with water damage or mold, I would definitely call Disaster Response again.

We rate this company very highly, not for the work they did but for their candor and helpfulness. We returned on 10 June from an overseas trip, to learn that our sump pump had failed, soaking carpeting and padding in our finished basement. We went down the Angie's List collection of disaster remediation companies. When we contacted Disaster Response Inc. we were given very good advice. Basically, "because of the heavy rain storm all companies such as ours are very, very busy and can't soon get to all the potential customers; we could add you to a wait list, but because of the danger of toxic mold formation in as little as 24 hours, we recommend you go with the first company you find that can quickly do the remediation work." Wow! That candor and honesty speaks very highly of this company. Would we use them, given another necessity and their availability? Absolutely!

Staff was professional and punctual. The equipment that was utilized was high quality and specifically built to complete the job at hand. A few short delays due to other customers with emergency needs were explained beforehand and had little impact on the overall completion of the job. When everything was completed (in less than a week), there is no visible or hidden evidence that any damage and subsequent repair ever happened. Great job!

They were excellent. They came in right away. They did everything they said they were going to do with the price that they coded.

We had an excellent experience with Disaster Response. Very responsive initially, and very efficient and professional during the actual work. They also coordinated directly with my insurance. Background: For 3-4 weeks, we had an undiscovered water leak in the basement which soaked the drywall and surrounding carpet. Given the time, mold had developed in the carpet, and was appearing at the baseboards. I called DR because of Angies List reviews and their ability to send someone the same day. Pedro was both knowledgeable and very professional, explaining the process to me, and provided a detailed estimate. Since it was an insurance claim, they pointed out that the adjuster's estimates were very low. I connected their office with the adjuster, and they coordinated the increased settlement without incident. The work itself was done efficiently and very cleanly. After getting approval from insurance, Pedro returned with another colleague and quickly removed the affected carpet and drywall, sprayed the floors and wood with antibacterial solution, and installed dehumidifiers and filters, which were intended to run for 3 days. These things were loud! Thankfully they were behind closed doors in the basement. For the next 2 days, DR sent a person to conduct readings on the equipment. The readings took approx 15 minutes each time. On day 3, they removed the equipment after certifying the basement was dry. A copy of the documentation was emailed to me at my request.

Per the description above, I was not happy and would not request an estimate or do business with this company again.

I am stunned by what I just experienced with Disaster Response. I called them to give me an estimate on water damaged caused by a kitchen sink trap being punctured by a plumber snaking through from my next door neighbor's apartment causing kitchen waste water to be dumped into the area under my sink. (I know hard to believe but true). I had cleaned up the water I could see, but a smell remained, although it has dissipated over time (now 2 weeks). Based on the reviews here I called Disaster Response last week. They responded quickly and their estimator gave me a quote of $1,055.14 essentially to dry out the affected area and treat it with an antibacterial agent. I asked him at least twice whether this would get rid of the smell, and twice he assured me it would based on his 10 years of experience. He was to return the next day. The next day another estimator called from Disaster Response to say he would be meeting the first fellow at my home, "to take some measurements." When he arrived he switched gears and said that the drying out was only the first of three steps needed. The second would be to get at the affected wood and remove it. The last step would be reconstruction. I asked him to explain why his diagnosis was so different than the first estimator. He said the fellow was young and perhaps misspoke. I assured him that the first fellow had not misspoken as I had questioned him at least twice. Today I received a written estimate for $3,365.90, which does NOT include the third phase, reconstruction. I cannot decide whether to laugh or cry. Another company rated highly on this list looked at my kitchen today (before I got the Disaster Response estimate) and saw no evidence of wood damage, staining or mold. He said if it were his kitchen he would apply a bleach cleanser to the wood under the sink and leave it at that. When I pressed him if it were wise to remove the wood that had gotten wet and he said no -- that the damage it would entail would be much worse that the problem itself. Made sense to me.

It went great! Pedro was on time always, explained every step to us & was very friendly and efficient. We are waiting for insurance now before the restoration phase begins.

I was very happy that my insurance chose to send disaster response. Not only did they do agreat job but Adam was so nice and knowledgeable in making his order as pleasent (!) as called posibly be.

We hired Disaster Response to manage the repairs to our house due to the Derecho from summer 2012. Two large trees fell on the back of our house causing substantial damage. Some of the work was sub-contracted to Mid Atlantic Construction Enterprises, separate review. Work was paid for by our homeowners insurance. Although there were some problems managing the job initially, ultimately John LeVan stepped in to fix things and from then on the job went smoothly. I am completely satisfied with the way things turned out and appreciate his willingness to take responsibility for the earlier problems and make things right. I would hire them again although I hope I never have to.

I appreciate that Disaster Response could handle by job promptly by arriving the morning after I called. Overall, they did a good job except for missing the dampness under the tiles that my insurance agent discovered. Also, the rolled up wet carpet could have been removed more promptly. I understand that the nature of this business makes companies suddenly very busy with other disasters and communication can go awry. Their communication was absent over the weekend when nobody called or showed up. There was also the miscommunication on Friday when they said I had rescheduled and I hadn't.

My property in Baltimore flooded in the basement due to Winter Storm Sandy. I called Disaster Recovery the day after the storm hit. They were polite and responsive to provide me with a service date within 48 hrs during the mad rush by many in Baltimore, DC, VA and MD to get the same service. They required me to pre-pay $750 to guarantee the service (was not to happy about this but no one else could come in 48hrs). They estimated the total cost to be $1,100 for all services. They came out the next day to assess the problem and then sent the serviceman the next night (9:30pm) to remove the water from the unfinished basement (with stone walls and cement floors and no furniture). The serviceman was gone within 40mins of arriving. At this point I'm generally satisfied but it goes down hill quickly. As part of the service, after sucking out the water Disaster Recovery is suppose to put down fans and other de-humidifiers to help dryout the basement. This did not happen, luckily I did not need it due to the cement floor and stone walls which dried naturally quickly. A few days later, I received several tough calls saying that they needed to pick up their stuff and no one has been available to get back into the house. Then I received a bill for almost $2,000. The invoice listed tons of services including: lots of hours for setup and removal of water, movement of furniture and items in basement, many rental days for fans and de-humidifiers etc.. Turns out most of the Invoice was FALSE. So I called the representative who was combative saying that I had not been available to let them get the stuff out of the house and not responding to calls (both untrue..) I explained to her that their was no equipment in the house nor did anyone leave or bring by any fans or dehumidifiers. Additionally, I said that 4 hours of work time was not accurate since the serviceman was there one time for 40mins. The company representative checked with her serviceman and called me back to apologize and agree that the invoice was incorrect and that no equipment was ever left at my home. A mgmt level company representative called me later to apologize and indicate I should probably get a refund of part of my initial deposit based on the actual services I received. I then received another revised invoice that still had activities and items never performed at my property. I indicated I owed another nearly $500 above my initial $750 deposit. I called again and indicated I thought this was beyond a mistake and instead an attempt to defraud me out of money. In the end, I just wanted this to be over. I agreed to not pursue any other actions against them and allow them to keep my full initial deposit of $750.00 and they agreed to close out my account and never call or write me again. I will not use them again. Started out fine but went down hill quickly.

Everything was done well, and they did a great job with the repairs.

We hired Disaster Response to help us deal with the fire in our condo development. They have been very prompt, courteous and professional, and delivered excellent service so far. They have packed up all the household goods and took them to their facility, where they sorted through things to identify those that got damaged by smoke or water. They've set up a web site with pictures and other information, and have provided prompt updates on the cleaning and restoration of items. Very happy with them so far.

When our washing machine overflowed onto our hardwood floors, I booted up Angie's List to look for someone reputable to come do the drying. I selected Disaster Response on a Sunday afternoon about 30 minutes after the initial overflow. They had someone at my house within 2 hours after that. They took initial measurements and photos for the insurance, and put in drying equipment that ran for three days. Every day they came out and took updated humidity readings. The daily readings could have been pretty inconvenient, since we have to go out of our way to be home during the day, but they had a technician who was willing and able to come after standard working hours, which was really helpful and considerate. A few weeks later, I found mold in an adjacent closet from water damage that wasn't initially identified. I was braced for an absolute nightmare because the insurance said they wouldn't cover mold. (And frustrated because it wouldn't have molded had it never been wet in the first place!) Most times you get into these situations, you end up in conflict with everybody pointing at everybody else so as to not get stuck with the bill. Instead, DPS was really great. They came out and looked at the additional damage we identified. They committed that either they would agree something with the insurance, or they would cover it since they missed the additional damange, but one way or the other, we would not have to pay additional mitigation expenses. After our initial appointment, they quickly sent technicians to get into that wall, spray for mold and identify any additional damage. Finding none, they repaired the drywall. And then later, repaired the carpet. All of this was professionally handled, and they had the courtesy to be flexible on scheduling for what was convenient for us. Everyone I talked to on the phone or who came to the house was professional, kind, and did good work. The initial work seemed expensive to me, though to be fair I have no basis of comparison, and three days of heavy equipment rental could justifiably be pricey. What I do know is, I'd pay top dollar again to encounter the level of integrity that we did here, of people who warranty their work and make things right for the customer.

Excellent! Adam was great, and displayed outstanding client service and professionalism. Measured acuteness of perceived issue, and gave honest recommendations. He could have tried to push for additional work since I clearly didn't have a clue, but he showed true integrity by helping us understand that there was in fact no water accumulation or mold, and pointed us to the elements we needed to fix in order to avoid leakage in the future. I would strongly recommend this provider to anybody. Thanks.

Due to the hurricane, they were swamped with requests. However, they referred me to another company who did an excellent job.

Response was prompt. John was extremely thorough and very helpful. After looking at our basement, he advised us of options and suggested ways we could handle problem ourselves - foregoing expense of services such as his company offered. We took his suggestions. If we were ever to have problems requiring further work, I would immediately call Disaster Response back in.

My home had water damage from Hurricane Sandy. This was a new experience for me and Disaster Response, while very busy due to the hurricane, was very responsive, helpful and informative. My wife and I noticed water running down some of our west-facing interior walls and wet carpet on the upper floors of our home during the worst parts of the storm. At the time, we were not able to find the original source of the leak (it was in the attic) but we continuously dried the affected areas with towels and a wet vac. The true extent of the water in our home was not evident until well after the storm was over. I called Disaster Response three days after the storm. Due to the hurricane, the company was not scheduling quick estimates and did require payment of my deductible and a signed work authorization before coming out to my house. I agreed and it was the correct decision. The following day, a Disaster Response technician, Adam, spent about six hours at my house assessing the situation and determining the best ways to prevent further water damage. Using an electronic device to track moisture in the walls and a separate one to determine moisture within and under the carpet, he carefully and methodically determined the proper areas to address. Before taking any actions, he informed me exactly what he planned to do. For example, where wet wall insulation needed to be removed, he cut out the bottom of the drywall and pulled out the wet insulation. He also removed the wet carpet and padding. He documented all of his actions through pictures and diagrams for our insurance company. The following day, he returned to measure moisture levels and to install fans, dehumidifiers and an air scrubber. I have no hesitation in recommending Disaster Response and would suggest asking for the technician, Adam, that came to our house. I have yet to meet with my insurance adjuster nor have I started the reconstruction process. I plan to update this review when that is completed.

These guys are fantastic, they're very professional, on time and always taking the time to explain what they're doing and why they're doing it. Literally the nicest guys in the business, and it's hard to use positive superlatives when discussing contractors. I won't hesitate to use them in the future.

This company truly merits their "A" rating on Angie's List. Professional, courteous, responsive and reasonable. I couldn't be more pleased with my experience with them. Unfortunately the only thing they can't do, it seems, is wave a magic wand and make the mold go away, but if anyone could I think it would be them! Wholeheartedly recommend them to anyone facing this nightmare of a problem. Thank you, Oscar, Jon and Danelle in particular.

Disaster Response took the time to explain the proper procedures involved with water extraction and gave much appreciated advice even though their services would not be needed for my particular situation. I would not hesitate to call Disaster Response in the future if needed.

They came immiedately when I called, service provider came out, moved furniture, wet-vac'd the house, set up large fans, disinfected and sprayed. great job!

Disaster Response was extremely responsive to my inquiry/concern about the potential for mold and sent a representative right away to explain the scope of the work. We were having significant leaking and odor from the roof. As it turned out, the roofer began their work first. Significant excavation revealed a rotten beam, but no mold. Remediation services were not needed, but Disaster response did an extensive renovation with a quick start date and amazingly quick turn around. Their representatives were personable and professional. The crew acted as a tag team based on their areas of skill, but it all flowed very smoothly. The representative responsible for pricing the work followed through with us during the entire process to ensure that everything met our satisfaction. Would highly recommend them and would use them again.