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Water damage? Call (901) 459-6610
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Water-stained subfloor in an older house, with the carpet pulled back and a baseboard pried off

38107 · 38108, open 24/7

Water Damage Restoration North Memphis, TN

Houses close to a hundred years old, new infill homes and a lot of empty ones in between. We dry out water damage across Klondike, Smokey City, Hollywood and Hyde Park.

Call now: (901) 459-6610Reopening a house?
  • Serving Memphis since 1989
  • Old houses, reopened houses
  • Free quotes
38107KlondikeSmokey CityNew ChicagoNorth Memphis
38108HollywoodHyde ParkDouglassNutbush

North Memphis

Klondike, Smokey City, Hollywood and Hyde Park

38107 and 38108 are both ours to cover, day or night, for owners, renters, landlords and families taking over a house. Most calls see a crew arrive 2 to 4 hours later.

North Memphis has some of the oldest housing in the city. One home in three in 38107 was built before 1940, and most of Hollywood and Hyde Park went up in the 1940s and 50s. On the same streets you will also find new infill houses built since 2000, so a 1920s house and a 2015 house can sit side by side.

About one home in six here is empty. Water damage runs longest in an empty house, and new problems often start the day someone turns the water back on. Both come up again further down. Our Memphis crews have dried houses like these since 1989.

Figures: U.S. Census Bureau, American Community Survey 2024 5-year estimates.

Reopening a house

Turning the Water Back On in a House That Sat Empty

Pipes that sat dry for months can crack, and freezes in an empty house can split lines nobody knew about. The day the water goes back on is when those leaks show up. Here is how to do it so a hidden crack does not turn into a soaked floor.

Before you start

  • Find the main valve and make sure you can turn it
  • Close every faucet, tub and outside spigot
  • Make sure the water heater is full before you turn its power or gas back on
  • Have a flashlight and a towel ready

At any point: hear running water or see a drip? Close the main again right away.

  1. 0:00

    Open the main valve just a quarter turn. Slowly. A fast rush of water can blow out an old fitting.

  2. 0:02

    Stand still and listen. Running water or hissing with every faucet closed means a leak somewhere.

  3. 0:05

    Look under every sink and behind every toilet with the flashlight. Feel the supply lines for drips.

  4. 0:10

    Check the water heater, the washer box and the outside spigots. Look at the ceiling under the bathroom.

  5. 0:30

    Nothing leaking? Open the main the rest of the way. Run each faucet for a minute to clear air and sediment.

  6. Next morning

    Walk the house again. Look up at the ceilings, down at the floors and, if you can, under the house.

Found a leak once the water was on? Shut it off, call a plumber for the pipe, and call us for the water damage cleanup. We can also check a house with moisture meters before you reopen it.

Fire and mold

North Memphis Fire and Mold Cleanup

Old, close-set and sometimes empty houses bring more than water damage. The same crew handles smoke, soot and mold.

Fire

Smoke From Your House or the One Next Door

Houses here sit close together. When one burns, smoke pushes into the next one through windows, vents and gaps under the siding. And in many pre-1940 houses, the hollow walls run from the floor up to the attic, so smoke travels inside them too.

  1. 1Openings the fire made are covered with plywood the same day
  2. 2Soot lifted off walls and ceilings with dry cleaning first, wet cleaning after
  3. 3Smell inside the walls treated with thermal fogging or hydroxyl units, with no ozone

Our work covers the building. Belongings are a separate matter for your insurer.

Fire damage cleanupSmoke odor removal

Mold

Mold in a House That Was Closed Up

A house shut for a Memphis summer, with no air conditioning and no open windows, traps damp air in every room. Mold shows up on closet walls, behind furniture and on the floor framing, and the first sign is the musty smell when the door opens.

  1. 1Every room read with moisture meters, and hidden damp found with a thermal camera
  2. 2Work areas sealed in plastic, with HEPA air scrubbers cleaning the air
  3. 3Moldy materials removed, the wood treated with an inhibitor and checked again with readings

We do not take lab samples. The final check is visual, with moisture readings.

Mold remediationBlack mold removal

Neighbors

When the House Next Door Is Empty

A burst pipe in a vacant house can run for days. Nobody inside will call it in, so it is usually a neighbor who notices first. And that water does not always stay on their side of the property line.

On close-set lots, it can drain toward your foundation, soak the ground under your house and show up in your crawl space. In a duplex, it can come through the shared wall.

What it looks like

  • Water running across the sidewalk or the yard on a dry day
  • Ice spreading from the house in winter
  • The sound of running water inside an empty house
  • A meter box that is full of water

Who to call, for what

  • MLGW's 24-hour emergency line

    Water is running at the empty house. MLGW can shut it off at the street.

  • Memphis 311, "Property Violation"

    The house is open, neglected or keeps causing problems for the street.

  • Us

    The water has reached your yard, your crawl space or your side of a shared wall.

Never go into an empty house to shut the water off yourself. Floors can be weak and wiring can be live.

Pre-1940 houses

Sills, Porches and Old Foundations in Pre-1940 Houses

In a house close to a hundred years old, a lot of water damage starts outside, low on the walls. Rain that splashes back from a clogged gutter or a bare yard soaks the old wood at the base of the house, season after season.

Walk around the outside once a year and look at these four spots, with a screwdriver to test any wood that looks soft.

  1. 1

    The sill on top of the foundation

    The wood beam the house sits on. Soft or crumbling wood where water has run down the wall for years.

  2. 2

    The bottom of the siding

    Peeling paint, swelling or dark staining in the lowest boards, especially under gutters that overflow.

  3. 3

    Porch posts and steps

    Rot at the base where the post meets the porch floor, and soft treads.

  4. 4

    Door thresholds

    A spongy floor just inside the back or front door where rain blows in.

When water has gotten in, we dry the framing and floor with structural drying and show you where the wood has gone soft. A carpenter replaces the rotted pieces.

Technician vacuuming water off a shiny wood floor in a wood-paneled older home

Why choose us

Why North Memphis Calls Our Crew

  • Day or night

    A crew on the road any hour

    Expect us 2 to 4 hours after you call, whether you own, rent or just took over a family house.

  • Before you reopen

    A moisture check first

    We read the floors, walls and ceilings before the water goes back on or anything gets covered up.

  • Your side too

    Water from next door

    We dry your crawl space or your half of the duplex, and check the unit across the shared wall.

  • Old houses

    Dried, not gutted

    Old framing and plaster often dry well. Only what is ruined comes out, and meters say when the rest is dry.

  • In Memphis since 1989
  • IICRC certified
  • Fire and mold too
  • Free quotes

Google reviews

What Our Customers Say

5.0from 17 Google reviews

Read Our Google Reviews

  • joseph schaeffer

    6 years ago

    Excellent response time We had a flooding issue and they were there within an hour and did an excellent job. Fast, courteous, and very detail oriented I would highly recommend them to anyone especially in the case of an emergency

  • Adam Ashlock

    4 years ago

    Incredible service! … Response time is unreal #likewow. Extremely courteous and efficient. They diagnosed the area and remediated the issue so fast I couldn't believe it. Pricing for this level of service is actually too low.

  • Patricia Turner

    8 years ago

    ServiceMaster by Riverside responded to a massive water leak that left over an inch of water throughout the house. … I have never witnessed such a miraculous clean up of both the water as well as debris created to reach water soaked areas. … This experience has restored my faith in servicepeople.

  • Charlotte Higgs

    8 years ago

    We had a washer leak and it damaged my den and hallway carpet. I called Service Master by Riverside. This was on Sunday morning. I live in Tipton County but within 2 hours … I would recommend Service Master by Riverside to anyone needing their service!

  • Amber Smith

    8 years ago

    … very professional, detailed and prompt. Thanks team for your service. Our office looks great!!

  • Willie Dodson

    8 years ago

    Did an awesome job! They were on time and were efficient.

  • Faye Williams

    8 years ago

    Very professional and timely!!!

FAQ

North Memphis Water Damage Questions

Have a question that is not listed here? Call us and talk to a real person on our Memphis team.

Ask us anything(901) 459-6610

Which North Memphis neighborhoods do you cover?

38107 (Klondike, Smokey City, New Chicago and North Memphis) and 38108 (Hollywood, Hyde Park, Douglass and Nutbush).

I inherited a house that has been empty for years. Where do I start?

Before you turn the water back on, have someone check the plumbing, and walk the house for stains, soft floors and a musty smell. We can take moisture readings and tell you whether water damage is hiding anywhere.

The water was off for months, and now that it is back on the ceiling is wet. What happened?

A pipe likely cracked while the house sat empty, often in a freeze, and only leaked once the pressure came back. Shut the main off, call a plumber for the pipe and call us to dry the ceiling and what is under it.

My neighbor's empty house is flooding my yard. What can I do?

Call MLGW's emergency line so they can shut the water off at the street, and report the property to Memphis 311. If the water has reached your crawl space or your walls, call us to dry your side.

Do you work on duplexes and houses split into units?

Yes. We dry the unit where the water started and check the one on the other side of the shared wall or floor.

Is a 100-year-old house worth drying out, or does it all have to come out?

Usually worth drying. Old-growth framing and plaster often handle water better than people expect. We take out only what is ruined and dry the rest until the meters read dry.

Water Where It Has Not Been Before? Let Us Look

If the house sat empty, say for how long when you call. We check every room with moisture meters before anything gets covered up.

Call now: (901) 459-6610