MEMPHIS GUIDE
When Memphis water damage is an emergency
Plaster holds a surprising amount of water and then lets go. Sewage is not a mopping project. Start with people, then the source, then notes.
Ceilings and electricity
A bulging plaster ceiling is a reason to leave the room, not to poke a hole from below. If the floor is wet near a panel, do not stand in it to shut power off. Sewage backup through a tub or floor drain means keep children and pets out. Clean water from a supply line is still an emergency if it is spreading, and it should be described as clean water so the crew does not guess. A drain backup is a different description; the sewage backup notes explain why that smell changes the job.
Shutoffs without heroics
Main water off if the valve is dry and obvious. If the leak is under a bungalow, do not belly-crawl through water to find a drip. Storm water through a roof waits on the weather; do not climb a wet roof in a thunderstorm to prove you tried. When the break is a supply line you can reach without standing in water, the first-hour supply-line checklist is the calmer version of this page.
The local facts that change the job
Say Midtown bungalow or a slab farther east, crawlspace or not, plaster or drywall, and whether the smell is sewage. Neighborhoods such as Central Gardens, Cooper-Young, Evergreen, and Vollintine-Evergreen have a lot of older wood floors over crawlspaces. A slab ranch farther east is a different building. Name the one you have. If rain opened the roof, the drying quote and the board-up are separate tasks, which the storm opening guide walks through.
Document after the danger
Doorway photos, a list of wet rooms, and the time you noticed it. If you left the house because of a severe-storm warning, the house can be photographed when the warning is over and the structure is safe to enter. Price questions can wait until the water has stopped; the cost-factor notes list what actually changes a quote, without invented dollar figures.
QUICK ANSWERS
Emergency questions
Should I shut off power if the floor is wet?
Not by standing in the water. If the panel or the floor around it is wet, stay out and get help. A dry, obvious main water valve is a different step from an electrical panel.
Is a bulging plaster ceiling safe to poke?
No. Wet plaster can let go. Leave the room and tell the crew which ceiling is sagging instead of making a hole from below.
Does sewage through a floor drain count as a cleanup I can start?
Keep people and pets out. Sewage is not a mopping project. Describe the smell and where it came up so nobody quotes a clean-water dry-out.
Is a spreading supply-line leak still an emergency if the water looks clean?
Yes, if it is still moving through the house. Call it clean supply water only when you actually know that is the source.
When should photos wait?
During a severe-storm warning, shelter comes first. Photograph rooms after the warning is over and the building is safe to enter.
Sources (checked October 5, 2026)
We link to these organizations for reference only. None of them is affiliated with this site.
Write it down first
The notes tool turns what you saw into a short summary you can read on the phone.
Write my damage notes