Miami Beach Water Damage Help for Condo Towers

On Miami Beach the water can come from the bay, the ocean, a hard rain or the unit upstairs, and plenty of buildings get more than one. South Florida Restoration Co handles water damage and flood cleanup calls from Art Deco walk-ups, oceanfront towers and bayside houses, and the first thing we sort out is which water got in.

Ground floors that now sit below the street

The city has been raising its lowest roads and adding pump stations, about 70 planned around the island, to push stormwater out to the bay. The streets stay drier, but on some blocks the road now sits above the lobby floor next door. When a hard rain outruns the drains, the runoff heads for the lowest doorway.

That water picked up whatever was on the street before it came under the door. Wet carpet, pad and the soaked bottom of the drywall come out, and the floor and walls get cleaned before the air movers and dehumidifiers go in, the same as any flood cleanup.

Salt in the walls

King tides used to put a foot of water in parts of Sunset Harbour on sunny days, and bayside streets still flood at the top of the tide. Tide water is salt water. When it soaks drywall, wood trim or a storage room full of boxes, the salt stays after the water drains and pulls dampness back in, so it reads wet again days later. Whatever stays gets cleaned of salt, then dried.

Art Deco and mid-century buildings

The older buildings in South Beach and Mid-Beach are mostly concrete and block with plaster walls, many with terrazzo floors and plumbing patched for decades. Block and plaster don’t swell like drywall but hold water longer and dry slowly, and a cracked cast-iron drain inside a wall can keep them wet for weeks. Most of it dries in place, tracked with moisture readings. Plaster comes out only where it has let go or dirty water reached it.

Towers and owners who are away

With half the island’s housing in big towers and so many units empty part of the year, a split water line or an overflowing AC drain pan can send water down several floors before anyone notices. Once the engineer closes the riser, every unit on that stack gets moisture readings and is dried as needed. If yours is the unit underneath, start with the steps when water comes from the unit above.

Islands, causeways and shared ZIP codes

The Venetian Islands, Normandy Isles and the other bay islands are covered, along with the Miami Beach ZIP codes shown here. ZIP code 33154 also takes in Surfside, Bal Harbour and Bay Harbor Islands. Don’t see your ZIP? Call anyway and we’ll check your address.

Tell us your floor and where the water came in: off the street, from the bay side or from overhead. That decides if the job starts with cleaning out salt and street water or drying a clean leak.