Richmond: the county seat on the Brazos
Water damage restoration in Richmond, TX, has a river at the center of it. The town grew up at a bend of the Brazos River, where a small group of early colonists camped in 1822 and a log fort at the river bend gave Fort Bend County its name.
Richmond was laid out and incorporated by the Republic of Texas in 1837, and it became the seat of Fort Bend County that December. Its historic core still holds the 1908 county courthouse, the 1883 home of Congressman John M. Moore and the Long-Smith Cottage at the Fort Bend Museum. Around that core are newer subdivisions and land the city has annexed as Fort Bend County grows. A house a few blocks from the courthouse and one in a new section on the edge of town can face very different water problems.
Water Damage Pro Houston owns no equipment and sends nobody; it is a no cost phone connection. When you call, an automated assistant asks briefly what happened and transfers you to an independent, locally owned water damage restoration company that takes Richmond calls. That company inspects, gives its own estimate and does the work.
Restoration services Richmond homes need
River flooding, storm leaks and plumbing failures all reach Richmond homes. These pages explain each kind of job and what a careful restoration company checks first.
Water Damage Restoration in Houston
The full job after a leak or flood: inspection, water removal, drying, cleaning and rebuilding, and how a restoration company works from the IICRC water categories.
Emergency Water Removal and Extraction
Standing water on the floor right now. What extraction equipment does, why speed matters in Houston humidity, and what to do safely before the company arrives.
Flood Damage Restoration
Rising water from a bayou, street or storm surge. Why floodwater is treated as contaminated, what gets removed, and how flood insurance differs from a homeowners policy.
Burst Pipe Water Damage
A split supply line, a frozen pipe or a slab leak. Who stops the leak (a plumber), who dries the house (a restoration company) and what to photograph for the insurer.
Water Damage Repair
Putting the house back after it is dry: drywall, baseboards, flooring, cabinets and paint, and how repair estimates differ from drying estimates.
Mold Remediation in Houston
Mold after a leak or flood: containment, removal and clearance, the Texas licensing rules, and the protocol a licensed assessor writes first.
Two record crests in two years
The National Weather Service gauge on the Brazos River at Richmond is the reading Fort Bend County watches during every big rain upstate. Its two highest crests on record came back to back.
June 2016: 54.74 feet
The Memorial Day period floods of 2016 pushed the river to 54.74 feet at Richmond on June 2, a record at the time. The river held near that level for days, and City of Richmond river updates tracked it closely while low streets near the river closed.
September 2017: 55.19 feet
Harvey's rain upstream sent the river to 55.19 feet at Richmond on September 1, the highest crest on the gauge. Forecasts before the crest ran even higher, and Fort Bend County and the City of Richmond ordered mandatory evacuations for flood-prone areas near the river.
Flood stage at the Richmond gauge is 45 feet, so both crests ran about 10 feet above it. River flooding in Richmond is often slow: the crest can arrive days after the rain ends, as water from upstream works its way down.
What river water means for a Richmond restoration job
Water that rises out of a river is treated very differently from a clean pipe leak. Under the IICRC S500 standard that most restoration companies follow, rising floodwater from rivers or streams is Category 3, or black water, meaning it may carry sewage, chemicals and soil. Wet drywall, insulation and carpet that sat in that water generally come out rather than being dried in place. A clean supply line leak starts as Category 1, but even clean water can turn worse as days pass in the heat.
Because the Brazos can stay high for days, a home may sit wet longer than the 24 to 48 hours the EPA gives as the window to dry materials before mold usually starts. Ask the company how it will document moisture readings room by room, which materials it plans to remove, and why.
Older homes, older materials
Near the courthouse and the old neighborhoods around it, some homes are far older than the subdivisions on the edge of town. Plaster walls, original wood floors and old framing hold water differently than modern drywall, and the IICRC counts dense materials like plaster and hardwood as specialty drying. If your home sits on piers rather than a concrete slab, water can also collect in the crawl space under the floor. Ask how the company plans to reach and dry that space.
Safety before anything else. If you smell gas, leave the house now and, once outside, call 911 and your gas utility's emergency line (CenterPoint Energy serves much of greater Houston). Never walk into standing water near outlets, cords or appliances; switch power off at the breaker only if you can reach the panel while standing on a dry floor, otherwise call your electric utility (CenterPoint Energy in much of greater Houston) or an electrician. Stay out of sewage water. If it is safe to reach, close the main water shutoff.
Water damage restoration permits in Richmond, TX
Inside city limits, the City of Richmond Building Department handles building permits. The building official's office and permit desk are at City Hall Annex, 600 Morton Street, open Monday through Friday, 8 a.m. to 5 p.m., and the permit office phone is 281-232-6871. The city takes permit applications, inspection requests and payments online through its MyGovernmentOnline portal.
- Floodplain workThe city's permit forms include a Floodplain Development Application. Ask whether your repair needs one, especially if your home is in a mapped flood zone near the river.
- Contractor registrationA city building code amendment says a contractor must be registered with the city to pull building permits. Ask the company or its rebuilding contractor whether it is registered in Richmond.
- Outside city limitsIf your address is in unincorporated Fort Bend County, ask the county which office reviews repairs at your address.
The Fort Bend County Drainage District publishes river levels and rainfall readings for the county. Bookmark its gauge pages before storm season so you can see what the Brazos is doing without waiting for the news.
Why Richmond homeowners call the line
A river that crests days later
When the Brazos is still rising after the rain stops, you may be waiting to get back in. The line answers whenever you are ready and connects you with a local restoration company for the cleanup that follows.
One call, a local company on the phone
The automated assistant takes a short description and transfers you to an independent, locally owned company that takes Richmond calls. When nobody there can pick up, your name, number and what went wrong are passed to that company so it can ring you back.
Free for you
The line never bills you. The restoration company sets its own prices and you pay it directly or through your insurer. As the footer explains, a company can pay the line a fee for each referral.
Help sorting out flood versus leak
This site explains how insurers treat river flooding differently from a burst pipe, and how to check a mold license on the TDLR search if mold follows the water.
Insurance and mold after Brazos flooding
The Texas Department of Insurance says standard homeowner policies do not cover floods; a separate flood policy does. For a house near the river, ask your agent now whether you carry flood coverage, because FEMA says National Flood Insurance Program policies generally take 30 days to start. A sudden pipe burst is a different claim from rising river water, so tell your insurer exactly where the water came from. The insurance guide lists the questions to ask.
If mold grows after the water, Texas licenses mold assessment and remediation through the Texas Department of Licensing and Regulation. The mold remediation page explains the two licensed roles, and the first 48 hours guide walks through what to do before the company arrives.
Check the mold license first. In Texas, mold assessment and mold remediation are licensed by the Texas Department of Licensing and Regulation (TDLR). In most cases visible mold under 25 contiguous square feet can be cleaned by people without a license; larger jobs generally call for a licensed mold assessment consultant to write the remediation protocol and a separate licensed mold remediation contractor to do the work. Ask for both license numbers and look them up on the TDLR license search (opens in a new tab). The line does not check licenses for you.
How a Richmond call works
- Dial the numberAn automated assistant picks up (832) 662-4107 at any hour, holidays included.
- Say what happenedA burst pipe, a flood, a roof or appliance leak, a sewage backup or mold, whether water is still coming in, and where in greater Houston you are.
- Get connectedYour call is transferred to an independent, locally owned water damage restoration company, which hears a short summary first.
- Work with that companyIt inspects, quotes, does the work and bills you or your insurer as you arrange. If it misses the call, it gets your name, number, area and problem to call you back.
About this line: Water Damage Pro Houston is a free phone line, not a restoration company. It answers your call and connects you with an independent local water damage restoration company, which inspects, quotes and does the work, and which you pay directly. Companies may pay a referral fee. The line never charges you. Read how the line works.