Washing Machine Overflow in Hurst, TX

Speed matters with a washer overflow in Hurst because laundry rooms in older slab homes usually sit between the kitchen, the garage and a hallway, so water has three directions to go. A burst fill hose sends supply water at full pressure, and if it lets go while the family is at work, it can run for hours and reach several rooms. Many 1950s to 1980s homes have laundry boxes and valves that have been in the wall for decades, and the hoses on the washer are often older than people realize. Apartments and duplexes, common in Hurst with about 42 percent of homes rented, often stack laundry closets, so an overflow can reach the unit below.

In the first hour, water covers the laundry floor, slips under the wall into the kitchen or hall and starts soaking carpet pad and cabinet toe kicks. By 24 hours drywall behind and beside the washer has wicked up, and laminate or vinyl seams near the doorway start to lift. At 48 hours mold can start on wet drywall paper, pad and particleboard cabinet bases, and drain water speeds that up. After a week, flooring, baseboards and nearby cabinets swell and smell, and more material has to be removed.

When a fill hose bursts, the water is clean category 1, and a lot can be dried in place if the crew arrives early. The laundry room slab, tile or sealed vinyl dries well with airflow and a dehumidifier. Drywall that only wicked a few inches can be dried by pulling the baseboard and drilling small holes at the base to vent the cavity. Carpet in a nearby hall or bedroom can often be floated and dried, and solid-wood cabinet boxes may dry once toe kicks are removed.

Drain water is different. A drain hose that slipped out or a standpipe that overflowed releases soapy gray water that is category 2, so carpet pad it reached is replaced and the carpet itself is cleaned or removed. Drywall that wicked drain water or turned soft is flood cut, and particleboard shelves and cabinet bottoms near the washer are replaced. Laminate that cupped at the laundry doorway rarely lies flat again. Any material that stayed wet for more than a day or two is removed.

Washer overflows come up all over Hurst, especially in homes where the laundry room sits off the kitchen or garage. Older houses in neighborhoods such as Oakwood Park Addition, Hurst Hills Addition and Shady Oaks often have laundry valves that are rarely turned and may not close all the way when they are finally needed. Apartments near the freeways and around North East Mall often have stacked laundry closets, and an overflow on an upper floor can stain the ceiling of the unit below. Homes near Norwood Dr and Chisholm Park see the same pattern when hoses fail during the workday.

The same calls come from Bedford, Euless and Richland Hills. Bedford and Euless have many 1980s homes and apartments with laundry closets in hallways, and older 1950s homes in Richland Hills often have laundry in a garage or utility room added later. In each city the job is the same: stop the water, extract it and dry the laundry room and nearby rooms. One call connects you with a local restoration pro, and a crew can usually come out the same day.