A supply line that let go while the house sat closed for summer, a condo leak working down the stack, rain driven through a Mizner-era window. One call reaches an independently owned company that can extract the water and start structural drying.
On an island where most homes are condos, many sit closed half the year and most went up before 1980, the same four situations come up again and again. Find yours, then tell the company which one it is.
The house was shut in May and opened in November. A failed supply line or an AC drain pan may have been running for weeks, so expect wet subfloor and wall cavities, not just a puddle, and ask about mold checks.
(855) 555-0129Water from one unit lands in the ceilings and walls below it and in the shared hallways. Photograph every room, tell building management early, and expect the association's carrier and your own to split the job.
(855) 555-0129Wilma in 2005 mostly hit roofs, windows and trees in town. Wind-driven rain gets into plaster, wood trim and ceilings of older homes. Rain that gets in after wind damages the roof or a window is usually a homeowners or wind-policy claim; rain that seeps through an intact window often is not. Check whether your policy excludes windstorm.
(855) 555-0129Fall king tides have put water on the Lake Trail, and storms bring tide and waves from both shores. Salt or surface water that came in from outside is Category 3 under IICRC S500, so soaked drywall and carpet usually come out.
(855) 555-0129The town sits on an 18-mile barrier island it shares with South Palm Beach, Lantana and Manalapan. According to Wikipedia, the island is never wider than three-quarters of a mile and narrows to about 500 feet in places, with the Atlantic on one shore and the Lake Worth Lagoon on the other. The housing on it is old, stacked and often empty, which changes how a water loss starts and how long it goes unnoticed.
4,093 of 10,507 housing units are vacant for seasonal or occasional use. The town runs at about 25,000 people in the Season and about 9,500 the rest of the year, so summer leaks can run unseen.
Seasonal-vacancy tables for the Town of Palm Beach, Census Reporter (ACS 2024)The median home dates to 1970, and 1,244 units (11.8%) were built in 1939 or earlier, the Flagler and Mizner era. Old supply lines, cast plaster and wood floors all behave differently when wet.
Census ACS 2024 5-yearNearly half of all homes (46%) are in buildings of 50 or more units, and only about a quarter are detached houses. One unit's leak rarely stays in one unit.
Census ACS 2024 5-yearAbout 62.3 inches of annual rain in a tropical climate keeps indoor humidity high, which is why wet materials here can turn into a mold problem quickly.
Wikipedia, Palm Beach, Florida climate dataThe 1928 Okeechobee hurricane hit Palm Beach directly with 145 mph winds. Frances (Sept 5, 2004) dropped 13.56 inches at Palm Beach International Airport, 10.36 of it in 24 hours (NWS Miami), and Jeanne followed three weeks later (Sept 26, 2004). Wilma (Oct 24, 2005) damaged roofs and windows on 51 homes, mostly in the southern end of town.
Each autumn the highest tides push lagoon water onto parts of the Lake Trail along the Intracoastal, including the stretch just south of the Flagler Museum, as the Palm Beach Daily News has reported. Low lakefront yards and garages are the first to take on water.
The Town lists tropical storms, hurricanes, tides, waves and heavy rain as its flood hazards, and names Fisherman's Island, Pelican Isle and Bingham's Isle as natural floodplain. Its evacuation routes are the Flagler Memorial, Royal Park and Southern Boulevard bridges.
Every address in the Town of Palm Beach uses ZIP 33480, but a lakefront estate, an In-Town Mediterranean Revival house and a South End tower each take on water in their own way. Mention which part of town you're in.
Elisa.rolle, CC BY-SA 4.0
Wells Road to Worth Avenue: Royal Poinciana Way, Town Hall (1925, restored 2009) and the Mizner Memorial Fountain, with Mediterranean Revival homes and condos mixed in.
CZmarlin (Christopher Ziemnowicz), CC BY-SA 4.0
About 250 shops and galleries along the vias, then ocean-to-lake historic estates, including those on El Bravo Way, south toward Sloan's Curve.
Khowald, CC BY 4.0
Flagler's 1902 Beaux-Arts winter home, now a National Historic Landmark, sits on the lagoon side where fall king tides have flooded the trail.
Clariosophic, CC BY-SA 3.0
The island's oldest church, established in 1889. Across the island, Addison Mizner designed 67 structures between 1919 and 1924 and set the island's Mediterranean Revival style.
The North End, from Wells Road up to the Palm Beach Inlet, mostly single-family homes on lake- and ocean-side streets. The South End condo row past Sloan's Curve, where most of Wilma's damage in town landed. Everglades Island, the gated enclave reached by one bridge.
From the island, from the mainland, or from wherever you spend the summer. A property manager or neighbor checking the house can call on your behalf too.
Before you reach a person, a short recording wants the property's ZIP. That number picks the company, so answer with 33480 even if your phone and your other home are up north.
Say whether the place was closed for the summer, which building manager or house watcher can let a crew in, and whether a unit below is wet too. Ask about moisture readings, equipment and pricing before you agree to anything.
No one can quote a Palm Beach job over the phone. Use the U.S. averages below, from a HomeAdvisor guide revised June 17, 2026 with 2025 project data, to sanity-check a written scope; they are not a price for your unit or house.
The middle band of reported jobs; HomeAdvisor puts the mean at $3,868, and the low and high ends at $450 and $16,000.
Clean (Cat 1) about $3.50, gray (Cat 2) $5.25, black (Cat 3) $7.50 per square foot.
Drying alone usually takes at least three days, about five on average; full restoration runs weeks or months (HomeAdvisor, June 17, 2026).
Fixing the lower unit's ceiling runs $450–$1,600. Wet walls add $300–$850 in drywall and floors $200–$550. Should mold take hold in that humid ceiling cavity, expect about $2,225 for remediation (spread: $1,100–$3,400). National figures, HomeAdvisor, June 17, 2026.
If your policy is a Citizens HO-3 (other carriers and wind-only policies differ): $10,000 combined cap on plumbing, HVAC, appliance and sprinkler water, emergency extraction included, unless repairs run through the Managed Repair Contractor Network. $3,000 for emergency measures unless done through Citizens' Emergency Water Removal Services program, $10,000 for fungi and rot, no sewer backup coverage.
From November 1 to April 30, Town rules allow construction on weekdays only, none from Dec 24 to Jan 1, and no building demolition (Working Hours for Construction, rev. 07/16/2026). A winter loss can take longer to put back together than the drying itself.
Sources: HomeAdvisor water damage repair cost guide (updated June 17, 2026); Citizens Property Insurance HO-3 comparison form, edition 11/25; Town of Palm Beach Working Hours for Construction, rev. 07/16/2026, and Ord. 7-2025.
Florida licensing check. Florida has no license called “water damage restoration,” but treating more than 10 square feet of mold-contaminated material is mold remediation and needs a DBPR mold remediator license (F.S. 468.8411(5) and 468.8419). Structural repairs, roofing, and plumbing, electrical or HVAC work need a DBPR-licensed contractor (ch. 489). Flooring, cabinetry, painting and non-structural interior work have no state license (F.S. 489.117(4)), so ask for references and proof of insurance instead. To check a license, go to MyFloridaLicense.com, choose Verify a License, and search by name or license number. A Certified contractor license is valid statewide; a Registered one only where the contractor holds a local certificate of competency. Town of Palm Beach permits come from Planning, Zoning & Building at 360 South County Road (561-838-5431); in a Special Flood Hazard Area a separate floodplain permit may apply, and work worth 50% or more of the building's market value triggers the Substantial Improvement rule.
Condo splits, Citizens caps, the Season's work hours and flood coverage are the questions that come up most here.
A recording, before any person. It asks for the ZIP of the property, not of the phone you are calling from, so give 33480 for any address in the Town of Palm Beach. After 33480, the system hands you to an independently owned restoration company whose service area includes the town. Nothing is booked until you agree to a written scope.
Often two policies are involved. Under Florida's condominium statute (F.S. 718.111), the association's policy excludes the floor, wall and ceiling coverings, fixtures, appliances, water heaters, cabinets and countertops inside each unit, and the unit owner is responsible for insuring those. The building's common elements fall to the association. Who pays for the neighbor's unit depends on the cause and your documents, so report it to both your own carrier and the association.
On the Citizens HO-3 form (edition 11/25), water from plumbing, HVAC, appliances or sprinklers is capped at $10,000 combined for the dwelling and other structures, with emergency water removal counted inside that cap, unless repairs go through Citizens' Managed Repair Contractor Network. Reasonable emergency measures have a $3,000 sub-limit unless done through Citizens' Emergency Water Removal Services program, and sewer or drain backup is not covered and cannot be added. Check your own declarations page.
Under the Town's Working Hours for Construction sheet (rev. 07/16/2026), from November 1 to April 30 construction is weekdays only, with no work on Saturdays, Sundays, Town holidays or the days before and after Thanksgiving, none at all from December 24 to January 1 (Ord. 7-2025), and no demolition of buildings for that whole period. Summer hours run May 1 to October 31 and add limited Saturday work. Rebuild work has to fit those windows. Whether emergency drying is treated differently is a question for the Town's Planning, Zoning and Building Department at 561-838-5431.
Yes. The Town's 2024 flood hazard mailer states that flood is not covered by homeowners insurance, so tide or surge water belongs on a flood policy. A National Flood Insurance Program policy has a 30-day waiting period, so one bought when a storm is named will not cover it (Town of Palm Beach 2024 flood mailer). Residential limits are $250,000 for the building and $100,000 for contents, and Palm Beach's CRS Class 6 rating lowers NFIP flood premiums by 20%.
No. You never have to, and on residential and commercial property policies issued on or after January 1, 2023 an assignment of post-loss benefits is void and unenforceable (F.S. 627.7152(13)). You keep control of the claim, and the company either bills you or works through your carrier.
Whether you're on the island or a thousand miles north, start with one call and the code 33480.
(855) 555-0129 Dial and enter 33480
