Water Damage and Restorative Interior Car Cleaning in Houston TX
Water damage from a flood? Rain water got inside? We can help.
Proper Water Damage Cleanup in Houston
One of our more popular services is the Full Interior Cleaning. This is where we’ll clean your interior from top-to-bottom, front-to-rear, to the best condition possible.
However, that’s reserved for vehicles that simply need to be cleaned because they’re dirty. When it comes to water damage, the cleanup process is entirely different.
The CDC states, “Be aware that floodwater may contain sewage, and eating or drinking anything contaminated by floodwater can cause diarrheal disease (such as E. coli or Salmonella infection). To protect yourself and your family:
- Wash your hands after contact with floodwater. Also be sure to wash children’s hands with soap and water often and always before meals.
- Do not allow children to play in floodwater areas.
- Do not allow children to play with toys that have been contaminated by floodwater and have not been disinfected.”
So this isn’t just about cleaning your interior to make it look better. It can bring health risks if it’s not taken care of properly.
The problem with water damage is even if your interior doesn’t look dirty, if water got into your interior, it may be underneath the carpeting where you can’t see it. This leads to mold and mildew issues down the road which is also a major health risk.
The top of your carpeting can be completely dry, but underneath, you can have a lot of moisture. Without removing the carpeting and replacing the padding or foam, the issue will be stay persistent.
The Water Damage Restoration Process
Every water damaged vehicle will be different. You could get water damage from an open window during a light rain, you can get heavy damage from a crazy Houston flood, or simply a 5-gallon jug of water could have spilled on the back row of your vehicle.
During our process, we’ll use a variety of chemical solutions, Ozone machines, hot water extractors, and other tools to get the job done. Here’s a general overview of what our cleaning process would look like:
Inspect the damage: Just like if your house had water damage, we have to inspect the interior to see what we can clean and what needs to be replaced.
Remove the seats: Based on the condition, if your vehicle has heavy water damage, we would remove the seats to have better access to cleaning or this would help if we need to remove the carpeting entirely.
Remove the carpeting: If needed, we’ll remove the carpeting to expose the underside. We’d throw away the foam and padding to replace it with new material.
Clean the carpet: If possible, we’d thoroughly shampoo and clean the carpeting until we’re satisfied with the condition. This can take a day in itself.
Clean the metal frame: Now that we’ve removed the carpeting, we can clean any standing water that’s on the frame. We’ll also send you photos of any potential damage we see. Note: We’re not mechanic and we’re not here to diagnose or repair anything mechanical or electrical.
Clean the fabric surfaces: Now we can clean the carpet and fabric surfaces like the floor mats, seats, headliner and seat belts. Based on the condition, this can take multiple passes and several hours to complete.
Clean the plastic and leather surfaces: With specific cleaning solutions, we’ll thoroughly clean the leather seats, center console, door panels, pillars, and dashboard.
Replace the foam or padding with new material: Before we install the carpeting, we’ll add new foam or padding to the frame.
This is a very high-level overview of the process. If you spilled water in a specific area, the process will look entirely different.
Water Damage Cleanup Pricing
Starting at $1,500
High Quality Detail Shop in Houston
We would perform the water restoration cleanup at our 4,500 SF detail shop in Houston (located just down the street from Willowbrook mall).
How long the job will take will be strictly based on the severity of the vehicle.
For a water spill on a specific area, it can take a couple of hours. If it’s water damage from a flood, that can take a week or more.
That’s why we’ll fully understand your needs before we take on your vehicle.
Other services we offer at our shop are window tint, paint correction, ceramic coatings, paint protection film, wash and wax, smoke odor removal, and more!
We Document The Whole Process
One thing we do at R3 Detailing is to document all our details and share it with you, the customer. So when you drop off your vehicle, we’ll send you a specific link that you can frequently check to see the progress of your clean up in “real-time”.
As we’re working on your vehicle, we’ll upload photos and videos documenting the process. That way you know how things are going with your vehicle.
And you can clearly see the before condition, what we’re cleaning, and the fun part is see the progress from dirty to clean.
It’s also a great way to document the restoration just in case you need to refer to it for any reason.
Water Damage Restoration FAQ
How long does this service take to complete?
It’s entirely dependent on the condition. For more severe cases, it’ll generally take much longer between three to five days. For smaller jobs, it’ll be done faster.
Does my insurance cover this?
We’ve dealt with jobs where insurance does cover a portion or all of it but this is something you’d need to talk and deal with your insurance.
Will this get my interior back to how it was?
If it was in severe water damage, there’s a chance that you’ll need to replace some items in your interior. This is going to be a case-by-case scenario that we might only know once we actually start working on the vehicle. That’s why the most common thing we’ll replace is the foam or padding underneath the carpet. Once that gets wet, the material is ruined.