By Madison Eldridge ∙ March 20, 2025
One evening, Denise Mason went downstairs to grab something from her basement. Standing at the top of her steps, she was shocked to find puddles.
“I don’t even remember why I was going downstairs,” she said. “But I got to the landing, and I looked down, and I thought, ‘oh my gosh, I can’t believe it.’ A Birkenstock sandal floated by as I went down the stairs. It was horrible.”
After speaking with her neighbour, Mason called DKI-CRCS.
On April 12, 2024, Project Manager Bruce Butwell and his assistant, Mary Goodwin were assigned the file.
Sump Pump Failure
Goodwin explained that the flood was caused by a sump pump failure.
Sump pumps are typically found in older homes and in more rural neighourhoods. They pump groundwater away from the home but in Mason’s case, Butwell said, the pump died.
After he got the call, Butwell put his rubber boots on and inspected the home, taking photos and measurements for his report.
“Bruce and DKI-CRCS basically came to my rescue,” Mason said. “In my mind, when I went downstairs, it was the worst catastrophe you could imagine, but Bruce sees this every day. He tried to minimize the amount of anxiety I was having, because, I just threw my hands up in the air and said, ‘What do I do now?‘”
After the Inspection
Once Butwell and Goodwin submitted their report to Mason’s insurance and confirmed coverage, they got to work.
They started with a trash pump to get rid of the water.
Goodwin explained that Mason’s file was considered a category three water loss.
Water loss Categories
- Category one water losses involve fresh water that comes from pipes
- Category two water losses involve grey water which typically comes from kitchen sinks or sometimes rain water
- Category three water losses involve black water. These losses often involve sewage or grossly contaminated water
Sump pump failures can also be considered category three losses because of the contaminants found in groundwater.
“Groundwater can pass through pesticides and carry diseases. Usually, level three is a toilet backup or a drain backup, but also a sump pump failure,” Goodwin explained.
After they pumped the water out of Mason’s basement, they moved to sorting contents. Since this was a category three water loss, Mason lost a majority of her damaged contents.
“If everything is soaking wet and has been sitting in that water, especially with it being a category three, it’s often unsalvageable,” Goodwin said.
Suitcases, workout equipment and paintings were among some of the things Mason lost.
“I think the most important thing to me were years and years worth of photographs that were damaged beyond repair,” Mason said.
Part of the emergency services involves removing wet material such as contents and drywall.
After the emergency services were finished, Butwell put together a repair estimate. Once it was approved by Mason’s insurance, Butwell and Goodwin continued with repairs.
The team scheduled trades workers to remove the electrical outlets, repair drywall and paint.
“In my mind, all I saw was, my destroyed basement,” Mason said. “Then Bruce swooped in and said, ‘this is what needs to be done, and this is the order it’s going to be done in.’ Mary was in constant communication with me about when people were arriving. There were no surprises. It was a bad experience that they turned into a good one.”
“I would definitely recommend DKI-CRCS to anybody in this situation because they just came in and basically took the worry and the anxiety out of the picture,” Mason said. “They just totally came in and dealt with it and I was happy with their services.”
Damages to your home can be stressful, but with proper communication, the restoration process doesn’t have to be. Give us a call if you have had an emergency in your home.1-800-563-3477.
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