Water Damage Restoration & Mold Remediation in Palm Beach, FL
Some of Palm Beach's oldest walls are hollow clay tile.
A cracked coat of stucco lets the rain into them.
The island runs about 15 miles from the Palm Beach Inlet to the Boynton Inlet, with the Atlantic on one side and Lake Worth Lagoon on the other. We dry out water damage and remove mold anywhere in the Town of Palm Beach, from the North End to the South End. Where the water came through a block wall, we seal that too.
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Palm Beach Island
Old walls on a barrier island
Addison Mizner designed 67 buildings in Palm Beach, according to the Historical Society of Palm Beach County. The town's historic preservation ordinance dates from 1979 and now covers more than 328 landmark properties, sites and vistas. About 9,245 people lived here year-round at the 2020 census. The town says about 20,000 more keep a seasonal home here.
The 1928 Hurricane Came Ashore Here
The 1928 Okeechobee hurricane made landfall at Palm Beach on the night of September 16, 1928, with sustained winds of about 145 mph. The Category 4 storm struck the county from Boca Raton to Jupiter, according to the Historical Society of Palm Beach County.
Hollow Clay Tile Under the Stucco
Some older Florida houses went up in hollow clay tile instead of wood frame or concrete block. The Palm Beach County Property Appraiser records that wall type as Adobe/Hollow Clay Block. Once the stucco over it cracks, rain gets into the tile and can crumble it from the outside in. Drilling into it for shutters can blow out the back of the tile.
Below-Grade Rooms Near the Water Table
No house on the island is far from open water. The water table lies close under the ground. Where a house has a room below grade, such as a basement or wine room, water finds any crack in the wall or floor. We waterproof below-grade walls as well as slabs.
Clay tile or block? Check your walls
A crack in hollow clay tile and a crack in concrete block need different repairs. The wrong one can trap water in the tile, so match what you see to the wall it is on.
If you see
Cracks in the stucco over clay tile
It usually means
Rain can reach the tile behind the crack. The tile has no glazed face to shed it, so it soaks the water up and can chip and scale.
What to do
A plasterer repairs the stucco. Get the wall read with a moisture meter first, so you know how far the water went.
What the free inspection checksIf you see
Bubbling plaster or a musty smell inside a clay tile wall
It usually means
Water has come through the wall and is sitting in the plaster. Mold grows wherever it stays damp.
What to do
We find the wet area with a meter, remove the mold under containment and dry the plaster that can stay.
Mold remediationIf you see
Water at the base of a gray block wall
It usually means
This is concrete block, the wall we waterproof. Water that gets through it usually comes in low, where the block meets the slab.
What to do
We seal the block and the slab edge. The lifetime warranty covers water coming through the section we treat.
Foundation waterproofingSources: the Palm Beach County Property Appraiser for the wall type; ASTM C34, Standard Specification for Structural Clay Load-Bearing Wall Tile, for tile made to take stucco or plaster with no glaze.
Is hollow clay tile waterproof?
No. Hollow clay tile is fired clay with no glazed face, built to sit under stucco. Rain that gets past a crack in the stucco soaks into the tile and can make it chip and scale. Some Florida houses built from the 1920s to about 1950 have walls of it. On those houses the stucco coat does the waterproofing.
What are you seeing in the house?
A musty smell when you open the house for the season
Humidity built up while the house sat closed. Mold grows where it stays high, so start with the room where the smell is strongest.
Mold remediationA ceiling stain or a wet floor after a storm
Rain found a way in through the roof, a window or a door. Plaster and old hardwood need slow drying, checked with a meter as it goes.
Water damage restorationDamp walls in a room below grade
Groundwater pressing on the walls and floor has found a crack.
Basement waterproofingA stain you cannot trace
Water often travels inside a wall before it shows. Readings in every room find where it is sitting.
How the free inspection works
Our Process
The order we work in on Palm Beach
- 1
Free Inspection
We walk the house and the lot, take moisture readings on walls that look dry and put what we find in writing. The visit involves no air or lab samples.
On the island we start with the ocean-facing walls, the rooms under the roof and any space below grade.
- 2
Find the Water
Before anything comes out, we work out where the water came from, whether that is groundwater at the slab edge, rain through a wall or a leak inside the house.
- 3
Remove and Dry
We remove mold-damaged material under containment and treat what stays. After water damage we extract the water and run drying equipment until the meter readings say the structure is dry.
In an older house we dry original plaster and wood trim in place wherever the readings say they can be saved.
- 4
Seal the Source
Where the foundation let the water in, we waterproof the block. For a failed roof or pipe, we show you where it failed so you know who to call.
What Palm Beach Homeowners Ask Us
Is my Palm Beach house built of hollow clay tile?
Can you work on a landmarked house in Palm Beach?
We are away from May to November. What should the house manager check?
Is water damage restoration different in an older house?
Does the free inspection include mold testing?
One company for the mold and the water behind it
Bullfrog removes mold and dries out water damage. When the water came through the foundation, we waterproof the block too, so one company handles the whole job.
Our mold work runs under Florida mold remediator license MRSR5565. Our foundation waterproofing carries a lifetime warranty against water coming through the section we treat.
MRSR5565
Florida Licensed Mold Remediator
Lifetime
Waterproofing Warranty
24/7
Phone Line
200+
Jobs Completed
5.0
Google Rating
Free
Inspection for Homeowners