Berkeley homes after water, smoke or mold, and the rebuild

Six jobs, nearly three years

What our Berkeley record covers, and what it leaves out

Our job log lists 6 Berkeley jobs between December 2023 and September 2026, with 1,624 photos taken on them. None of those photos is cleared for the website yet, so this page carries no job pictures; they stay in each owner's file and, where there was a claim, in the claim file.

The log records where a job was and when, not what kind of job it was. So we will not tell you those six were water jobs, or remodels, or anything else. What we can tell you is what we take on with every call: water mitigation, mold remediation, fire and smoke cleanup, air duct cleaning, reconstruction once the damage is handled, and construction and remodeling. The rest of this page is about what Berkeley itself adds to that work, taken from the city's, the state's and the federal government's own records, each one linked where we use it.

Under the front yard

Berkeley's sewer lateral rule and a drain that backs up

A private sewer lateral is the owner's pipe linking the house to the city's main line, usually running from the building out to the curb. Berkeley asks for a Sewer Lateral Certificate of Compliance before a sale closes, before a building permit for major construction such as a remodel, when the city finds the lateral may be a public nuisance, and when you choose to repair or replace it.

All four cases are listed on the city's private sewer lateral page, which also gives the reason for the program: broken laterals let rainwater into the pipes in wet weather and overwhelm the treatment system. The rule covers condominiums and buildings that share a lateral, too.

For a homeowner the practical question is timing. A toilet or floor drain that backs up is sewage, and we handle it as category 3 water, as our sewage cleanup page explains. The cleanup itself is not one of the four cases. But if the repair afterwards grows into a remodel that needs a building permit, the certificate comes before that permit, so it pays to ask about the lateral early instead of finding out at the permit counter.

The housing

Nearly half of Berkeley's homes predate 1940

Of Berkeley's 53,145 housing units, 24,621, about 46 %, were built in 1939 or earlier. The median year built is 1944, give or take three years, and about 81 % of the city's homes went up before 1980.

Those numbers are the U.S. Census Bureau's American Community Survey, 2020–2024 five-year estimates: year structure built (table B25034) and median year structure built (table B25035). Only about 11 % of the housing is from 2000 or later. In practice, nearly every Berkeley call is a call to a house with a long past.

The hills

Wildfire, embers and smoke that reaches the flats

Berkeley has burned before. The city's hazard analysis lists the 1923 Berkeley Fire, the 1991 Tunnel Fire and the 2017 Grizzly Fire. In 1923 the fire ran downhill from Wildcat Canyon into central Berkeley, burned 130 built-up acres and left about 4,000 people homeless.

The same document, Berkeley's Hazards (August 2025), says embers from the 1923 fire likely started a second fire near the waterfront about two miles from the main front, and warns that the flats are more exposed to wildfire than most people assume. The highest-risk ground is in the upper hills on the eastern edge, where the city's wildfire risk page sets out the defensible-space rules for each zone.

For a house, a nearby fire rarely ends at the fire line. Smoke and soot settle into carpets, ducts and attics, and the hoses that save a roof leave water behind. We do wildfire smoke and soot cleanup, smoke odor removal, board-up and tarping, and duct cleaning after smoke; see fire and smoke cleanup and air duct cleaning. When walls and floors have to come out, fire damage restoration covers the whole job through the rebuild.

The ground

The Hayward Fault at the foot of the hills

The Hayward Fault runs along the base of the Berkeley Hills on the city's northeastern edge, inside a surface fault rupture zone the city maps at about a quarter mile wide. For a magnitude 6.9 quake on it, the city estimates more than 600 Berkeley buildings destroyed and more than 20,000 damaged.

The weather

Twenty-six inches of rain, nearly all in winter

NOAA's 1991–2020 normals for the Berkeley weather station add up to 26.12 inches a year. December, January and February alone bring 15.28 inches, close to 60 %, while June through September together average less than half an inch.

December is the wettest month at 5.32 inches, according to NOAA's climate normals for the station. Four nearly dry months let roofs bake and gutters fill with leaves, and then the first big storm tests every gap at once. In an old house the stain on the ceiling may have started at flashing several feet away. If a storm opens the roof or a window, we tarp or board it first and then dry what got wet; the details are on storm damage repair and water damage mitigation.

Creeks and storm drains

Where Berkeley's floodplains lie

The city names three kinds of flooding here: coastal, creek and storm drain overflow. Its 1-percent-annual-chance floodplain follows the edge of the Bay, the inner edge of the Aquatic Park lagoon, Codornices Creek in northwest Berkeley and Strawberry Creek on the university campus.

The same hazard analysis says the city looks after about 93 miles of storm drain pipe and nearly 4 miles of creek culverts, and that most of its stormwater system is near or past its expected useful life. It also warns that rising groundwater will seep into sewers and basements in low-lying areas long before the shoreline overtops. For the official flood zone of one address, search FEMA's Flood Map Service Center. When you call us about water that came in from outside or up through a drain, tell us where it came from: that decides how much has to come out.

Permits

Which Berkeley repairs need a permit?

Most of them. Berkeley's Permit Service Center says to assume a permit for anything not on its exempt list. Painting, papering, tiling, carpeting, cabinets and countertops are exempt, and so is stopping a leak in a pipe. Replacing a concealed drain, water or vent pipe is not.

The city's list of work exempt from building permits does not include drywall or roofing, and its building permits page covers how to apply. Even exempt work still has to meet the state building code, and a zoning permit can apply where a building permit does not. Drying a house out is rarely a permit matter; putting it back together often is, and a major remodel brings the sewer lateral certificate along with it. On remodels we handle the permits and the plans, and the design is included.

Working with us

One call from the wet floor to the finished room

• A person on the phone at any hour

  We answer 24/7, and a person picks up, whether it is a burst pipe at night or a question about a kitchen.

• Records your adjuster can use

  We photograph the damage, log moisture readings and measurements, and send your adjuster an itemized estimate written in Xactimate. We are the repair contractor, never the adjuster; the claim stays between you and your insurer.

• Your share of a covered repair

  You pay only your deductible, and your insurer pays us the rest directly. Upgrades you choose are priced on their own. More on working with insurance.

• Remodels without damage behind them

  The first consultation and quote are free, for restoration and remodeling alike, and financing is available through our lending partner. See construction and remodeling and rebuild after damage.

Questions

Berkeley questions, answered