Ridgewood, on the Brooklyn border along Myrtle Avenue, Fresh Pond Road and Forest Avenue, is known for its long rows of attached brick houses, many built as two- and three-family homes with a cellar below. Row after row share party walls and similar layouts, and that shapes how water damage behaves here. A cellar takes water in a storm, a pipe bursts in a shared wall, a leak on the top floor runs down through the apartments below. This page covers water damage restoration in Ridgewood and what to do in each case.
Queens Water Damage Restoration is an independent referral service, not a restoration company. When you send the form, your details go to an independent local restoration provider serving Queens, who can contact you, inspect and quote any work directly. You decide whether to hire them.
Cellars in a storm
Ridgewood’s cellars sit below the street with the sewer connection and the floor drain at the lowest point. DEP describes sewer backups as what happens when heavy rain exceeds pipe capacity and water overflows from basement sewer connections, and it lists groundwater through foundation cracks or a leaking floor drain as another of the city’s four kinds of flooding. During Ida, rain fell at up to 3.5 inches an hour in some areas against a sewer capacity of 1.75 inches an hour. Ridgewood is inland, but the NYC Health Department’s point is that rainfall flooding can happen anywhere.
Treat water that comes up through a floor drain as sewage, which the IICRC S500 counts as Category 3 water. Stop using water in the house, keep out of it and see sewage cleanup in Queens.
Leaks between floors
In a two- or three-family row house, kitchens and bathrooms stack above each other. A leak on one floor lands on the ceiling below and runs down inside the walls. Shut off water at the fixture or the main, tell everyone in the building, and keep out from under any sagging ceiling. Switch off lights on that circuit from the panel only if you can reach it from a dry place.
Owners of buildings with three or more apartments are covered by Local Law 55, which requires them to keep tenants’ apartments free of mold and pests and to safely fix the leaks and other conditions that cause them, with yearly inspections. Tenants who see a leak or mold should tell the landlord, and if it is not fixed, file a complaint online or call 311.
Shared walls
Attached houses share walls and sometimes a cellar line. Water in one house can show up in the next, and a source next door can wet your wall. If you find water you cannot trace, check with your neighbors before opening walls. Photograph both sides if you can, and keep a dated note of what you found and when.
Old buildings and mold
Older row houses can hold moisture in brick, plaster and the cellar air, and stored items against a cellar wall give mold a place to start. The EPA’s rule is that the key to mold control is moisture control, and its guidance is to dry water-damaged areas and items within 24 to 48 hours. For small patches under about 10 square feet, the EPA says in most cases you can clean it yourself with soap and water on hard surfaces, gloves and thorough drying. Larger areas are for professionals; see mold remediation in Queens.
Downspouts
Row houses often have their downspouts piped into the ground. DEP says it is mandatory for homeowners to make sure downspouts are disconnected from the city’s sanitary sewer, redirecting water at least 6 feet from the foundation, because connected downspouts can cause sewer backups in basements, yours and your neighbors’. Non-compliance may result in fines. See basement waterproofing.
After the drying
Repairs follow drying, not the other way round. Water damage repair in Queens covers plaster and drywall, floors and when work needs a DOB permit.
Near Ridgewood
Nearby: Maspeth and Middle Village, on the Queens neighborhoods page, and Forest Hills further east.
Water damage in a Ridgewood row house? Send the form, pick Ridgewood, and an independent local provider can contact you.
Questions people ask
Water is coming through my wall from next door. What do I do?
Tell your neighbor at once so they can find and stop the source, photograph your side, and keep a dated note. Drying can only start once the water stops.
Why does my cellar drain back up in storms?
DEP says sewer backups happen when heavy rain exceeds pipe capacity. Connected downspouts make it worse, and DEP requires homeowners to disconnect them.
Is this site a restoration company in Ridgewood?
No. Queens Water Damage Restoration is an independent referral service, not a restoration company. When you send the form, your details go to an independent local restoration provider serving Queens, who can contact you, inspect and quote any work directly. You decide whether to hire them.
Water damage in Queens? Tell us your neighborhood and what happened.