BBBAccredited Business
Kaminskiy Care and Repair repairs water damage and mold damage on drywall, ceilings, trim and cabinets: the leak confirmed stopped, wet material removed, the area dried and treated, then rebuilt and painted to match. Large scale remediation and air testing are referred to a licensed specialist, and we handle the rebuild after. We serve Lafayette and the surrounding California communities.
Ten minutes down Highway 24. Hillside runoff, shaded roofs and 1950s pipes write the Lafayette list.
Lafayette's water damage usually starts outside. The hillside lots in Happy Valley and Reliez Valley drain toward the house, the oaks keep the roof valleys and the north walls wet into May, and the gutters fill before the first storm, so the water comes in at the foundation, the crawl space and the roof. Inside, the 1950s ranches carry galvanized supply and their first shower pans. We have the licensed plumber or roofer stop it, cut out what is wet, dry the cavity and rebuild to match.
AFTERBEFOREAll of these are dry-out and rebuild work for a Kaminskiy-certified technician from our Quail Court office: the trace, the meter, the written scope, the tear-out, the drying, and one crew for the drywall, plaster, trim and paint.
Priced and on the calendar during the first call.
A written quote you approve before anyone drives out.
One crew, the whole list, warranty in writing.
A one-year workmanship warranty, in writing, on every Lafayette water damage repair.
Because the water is still arriving. In Lafayette that is a slope that drains to the same wall every storm, a gutter the oaks fill every fall, a valley that never dries, a galvanized line weeping inside a 1950s wall, or a shower pan from the same decade. Paint over the ring bleeds through within weeks, and a shaded north wall can take a month to dry on its own. We trace the source with a moisture meter, have the licensed roofer or plumber stop it, send the drainage to the right contractor, and run drying equipment until the cavity reads dry.
Drywall that got damp once and is still firm can be dried, sealed with a stain-blocking primer and refinished. Drywall that stayed wet for days, swelled at the joints or sagged comes out with the insulation behind it; plaster that is soft or loose on the lath comes out to sound edges; baseboard that swelled is replaced. Lafayette's raised floors make the subfloor the question: boards that dry flat and stay firm remain, plywood that delaminated goes, and a joist or a mudsill that stays soft is the engineer's call before we rebuild. We probe from below at the look, and the written scope says what comes out.
California licenses no mold remediation trade, so there is no licensed remediation company on a state list to look up; the state's health guidance is to remove visible growth and fix the moisture that fed it. A small surface spot on drywall, trim or grout comes out with the material and we treat the framing. Growth across a wall, inside a cavity, across the underside of a damp crawl space floor or in the ducts, or anyone in the house with breathing trouble, calls for a remediation company with industry certification and containment, and air or surface testing is theirs too. We say so at the look and rebuild after their clearance.
Clear the gutters after the oaks drop and again before the first November storm, and have the valleys under the canopy looked at. Grade the uphill side away from the house, keep the area drains open and the crawl space vents clear, and have a drainage contractor set a French drain or a sump where the water keeps coming. Have the licensed plumber replace the last galvanized run before it closes on its own. Swap rubber washer hoses for braided steel and put a pan and a shutoff on the water heater. Most of what we rebuild in Lafayette came off the hill.
Big hillside lots with 1950s and 1960s ranch houses on raised foundations and newer custom homes, wood siding, long eave runs, and oaks over most of it. The slope sends every storm against the uphill wall and under the house, the crawl space holds water into spring, the gutters under the canopy clog and overflow behind the fascia, and the north wall never dries. Water shows as a damp line at the base of the uphill wall, a soft floor over the crawl space, or a ceiling ring under a valley. We cut out the wet drywall, sill and subfloor, dry the cavity and the crawl space with equipment, treat the framing and rebuild to match the siding or the plaster; the licensed roofer we schedule fixes the valley, and a drainage contractor sets the French drain or the sump that keeps the water out next winter.
Smaller older lots from the 1940s through the 1960s, shaded by mature trees and kept damp by the creek, with wood-framed windows, plaster or early drywall, galvanized supply lines in many, cast iron drains and tile showers on their original pans. The galvanized line rusts shut and weeps inside a wall for a year; the shower pan fails and the bedroom wall behind the tub goes soft; the sill under a wood window rots and the rain follows it into the wall. We open what the licensed plumber needs, dry the studs and the subfloor, rebuild the plaster or drywall and trim, and the pre-1980 plaster gets a sample tested before we cut. The downtown condos add a second question, whose wall the leak lives in, which we settle with the manager first.
Family streets from the 1960s and 1970s with redwood decks, pool yards, sliders and French doors to the yard, two-stories with a bath upstairs, and the water heater in the garage. A slider track on the weather side fills and overflows into the carpet; a deck ledger bolted through the siding lets the rain into the rim joist; an upstairs toilet supply or washer hose lets go and the ceiling below sags; the garage water heater fails and the drywall along the slab goes soft. We take out what is wet on both floors, dry them, rebuild and paint to match, and the licensed plumber or roofer we schedule stops the source before any wall closes.
Call 925-302-5955 or text a photo of the stain, the damp line or the soft floor. Most repairs get a range on the call and a date for the look, ten minutes down Highway 24 from our Quail Court office.
A technician traces the water with a moisture meter through the drywall or plaster, the sill, the framing, the subfloor and the crawl space, then writes the scope: what comes out, how long the drying runs, which licensed trade or drainage contractor stops the source, what is rebuilt, and the price.
The licensed plumber or roofer we schedule stops the leak, or the drainage contractor turns the water away from the house. We cut out the wet drywall, plaster, insulation and trim, set the drying equipment, treat the framing, then rebuild, texture or skim, and paint, usually over a few visits in a week or so, longer when a crawl space has to dry.
Photos of the open wall, the crawl space and the meter log go in your file for the insurer. The dust leaves with us, and the one-year workmanship warranty is on the invoice.
Under California law a job below a small set amount may be done without a license when it needs no permit and nobody is employed to help; a water damage rebuild is past that line once a sheet of drywall or a run of subfloor comes out. Kaminskiy Care and Repair is a licensed California contractor (License #1120648), bonded and insured, with Kaminskiy-certified, background-checked technicians, and every job over the state's written-contract threshold is on paper before the first visit. The leak is a licensed trade's: a galvanized run, a supply or a shower valve to the licensed plumber, the valley or the roof-to-wall flashing to the licensed roofer, and we put them on the same calendar.
Lafayette's building permits are plan-checked and inspected for the city by Contra Costa County's building inspectors under the state residential code, which asks no application for an ordinary repair to a structure and exempts painting and similar finish work, so a patched ceiling or a wall rebuilt like for like is that kind of work. The city's own planning side leaves a dry rot repair that adds no square footage alone. The line is drawn at cutting a structural beam or a load-bearing support, so a subfloor, a joist or a mudsill the water softened is a county permit, and on the hillside lots a new drain or a retaining wall brings the city's hillside rules in; we ask before the quote and pull the permit when the county says so. The plumber's and the roofer's work carries its own.
A burst line, a failed water heater or a storm through a sound roof is the sudden loss most policies cover; water that ran down the hill and into the crawl space is surface or ground water, which a homeowner policy usually excludes and a flood policy covers, and a galvanized line that wept for a year usually is not covered; the policy and the adjuster decide. We photograph the open wall and the crawl space, log the meter readings and write a scope your adjuster can read; we do not negotiate claims, which a public adjuster licensed by the Department of Insurance does. Most of Lafayette has no association, so the inside of the house is yours to fix. In the downtown condos California's common-interest law puts the common area on the association and the unit on you unless the CC&Rs say otherwise, so whose wall the leak lives in is settled with the manager before the scope is final.
Ten minutes down Highway 24. Your Lafayette crew dispatches from our East Bay office on Quail Court in Walnut Creek, one exit east, so a hillside list is usually on the calendar within days. Call 925-302-5955, text a photo, or send the form.
Can't find your answer? Call 925-302-5955 and ask us anything.
Call 925-302-5955No, that is a remediation company's work and we leave it to them. We cut out and replace the drywall, plaster, trim, insulation, subfloor and cabinet panels the water ruined and treat the framing, and a small surface spot comes out with the material. Growth across a wall, inside a cavity, under a damp crawl space floor or in the ducts, and any air or surface testing, go to a remediation company with industry certification; California licenses none, so we tell you who we trust and rebuild after their clearance.
Nearly always. In Lafayette the usual suspects are the slope draining against the uphill wall, a gutter the oaks filled, a roof valley that never dries, a crawl space holding winter water, a galvanized line in a 1950s wall, a shower pan from the same decade, a deck ledger through the siding and an upstairs toilet supply. We trace the path with a moisture meter before anything is closed, and the licensed plumber, the licensed roofer or the drainage contractor confirms and fixes it; a rebuild over a live leak is money spent twice.
Yes. The 1940s and 1950s houses are plaster or smooth drywall, the 1960s and 1970s streets are orange peel or light knockdown, and the custom homes are mostly smooth. We rebuild with the same material, carry the texture or skim across the patch, prime with a stain-blocking primer and paint to the corner so the repair disappears. Plaster or a popcorn ceiling from before 1980 gets a sample tested before we touch it.
It depends on how far the water ran, how long it sat and whether a crawl space has to dry. Text a photo and you get a range on the call; after the look you get a written scope with the tear-out, the drying, the rebuild and the licensed trade or drainage work priced before anything starts. The price you approve is the price at the house, and the scope is written so your insurer can read it.
Often, when the cause was sudden: a burst line, a failed water heater, a storm through a sound roof. Water that came off the hill or up through the crawl space is usually excluded from a homeowner policy and belongs to a flood policy, and slow leaks and deferred maintenance usually are not covered either; the policy and the adjuster decide. We give you photos of the open wall and the crawl space, meter readings and a line-item scope; we do not adjust claims, and a public adjuster licensed by the state does if you want one.
The damage is; the water is not. We dry the crawl space and the framing with equipment, cut out the subfloor and the wall that went soft, treat what stays and rebuild the floor and the finish. Turning the water away is a drainage contractor's job, a French drain, an area drain or a sump, and on a Lafayette hillside it may bring the city's hillside rules in, so we name who to call and write both halves into the scope so you deal with one calendar.
All of Lafayette from our Walnut Creek office: Happy Valley, Upper Happy Valley, Reliez Valley, Acalanes Ridge, Burton Valley, Springhill, the Trail neighborhood and downtown, plus Orinda, Moraga, Walnut Creek and Pleasant Hill. Call 925-302-5955 to confirm your address.
Tell us where the stain or soft spot is. We'll call you back with a price and a time. Calling is still the fastest way: 925-302-5955.
Dried out, rebuilt and painted to match, warranted in writing.
We answer in under three rings, 24/7.No price games. You get a clear written quote before any work begins, backed by our workmanship warranty.
