Sewage is not a spill. It is a health hazard.

What makes it Category 3

Water is graded by what is in it, not by how it looks. A toilet overflow from beyond the trap, a wasteline backing up through a floor drain, or flood water that came in off the ground is Category 3: grossly contaminated, carrying pathogenic or toxigenic agents. A health risk, not just a property loss.

It is not only sewage. Clean water turns Category 3 the moment it runs through a space holding rodent droppings, bird or bat droppings, or a dead animal, which is most crawl spaces and a fair number of wall cavities and attics. A burst supply line above a rat-infested crawl space is a Category 3 job, and treating it as clean water is how people get sick.

Clean water turns into this on its own. A Category 1 loss left sitting against organic material degrades within about 48 hours, which is why the hour you call matters more than almost anything else you decide.

What comes out and what stays

Porous material that Category 3 water has touched does not get cleaned. Carpet and pad, particle board, insulation, drywall below the water line and upholstered contents are removed and bagged on site.

Hard, non-porous surfaces can be saved: tile, sealed concrete, hardwood in some cases, metal, glass. Those are cleaned, treated with an antimicrobial and then metered dry like any other loss.

Everything that leaves the building is photographed and listed first. An adjuster who did not see it cannot pay for it.

How the work is contained

We build containment around the affected area and put it under negative air pressure before anything is disturbed, so nothing migrates into the rest of the house on air currents. HEPA air scrubbers run for the duration.

Crews work in full PPE. That is not theatre, it is what the standard requires for Category 3, and a company that skips it is skipping other things too.

Your insurance

A sudden sewer backup is usually covered, but often only if the policy carries a water backup endorsement, which is a cheap add-on many people do not know they have. Long-term seepage and a drain that has been slow for months are typically excluded.

We bill your carrier direct, so in most cases the only thing you pay is your deductible. More on how claims work →