College Park, MD water damage restoration for older homes and rentals

Old cast-iron drains in College Park houses

Many of College Park's houses were built before about 1970, and most of those were plumbed with cast-iron drain and vent pipes, joined with lead and oakum or later with rubber couplings. Cast iron lasts a long time, but it corrodes from the inside, especially along the bottom of horizontal runs in the basement ceiling, and joints loosen as houses settle over the decades.

Because drains carry water only when fixtures are used, these leaks come and go. In a house shared by several tenants, heavy use makes them show sooner: a stain on the basement ceiling that grows after morning showers, a damp spot under the kitchen stack, a weeping joint at a cleanout, or a sewer smell near the stack. In a house with a basement apartment, the tenant below may be the first to notice.

Water from a drain has been used, so porous materials it soaks are handled more cautiously than with a clean supply leak. A plumber can camera-inspect the lines and decide whether to repair a section or replace a run. Where roots have entered an old lateral to the street, basement drains back up in heavy use or heavy rain. The restoration crew cleans and dries; the plumber fixes the line.

College Park at a glance

College Park is in northern Prince George's County along Route 1, with Hyattsville and Riverdale to the south, Greenbelt to the east and Beltsville to the north. The University of Maryland's main campus dominates the center of the city and has its own ZIP code, 20742, while the surrounding neighborhoods use 20740. College Park Airport, among the oldest operating airfields in the country, sits on the city's east side.

The residential neighborhoods around the campus are among the oldest suburbs in the county. Calvert Hills, Old Town, Berwyn, Lakeland and Hollywood hold bungalows, foursquares, Cape Cods and brick colonials from the early and middle twentieth century, many with basements, porches and plaster walls. Later decades added ramblers, split-levels, townhouses and apartment buildings, and newer mixed-use development lines Route 1.

A large share of houses near campus are rentals, many shared by several tenants, and some have basement apartments. That shapes water damage here. The person who finds the leak is often a tenant who can't approve work, the landlord may live elsewhere, and a leak upstairs can reach the apartment below before anyone at the source notices.

Turnover is constant near campus, with new tenants every August and many houses sitting partly empty over the summer. A leak that starts when a house is half-empty can run for days, so landlords who check in over the break, or leave a sensor by the water heater, catch problems early.

We connect homeowners, tenants and landlords across College Park's ZIP codes 20740 and 20742 with local restoration crews.

College Park is served by public water and sewer. The land slopes toward Paint Branch and the other streams that feed the Anacostia, and in lower neighborhoods groundwater sits close under basement floors after long rains. Mature street trees fill gutters every autumn, and summer thunderstorms can overwhelm downspouts that empty right beside old foundations.

Many older houses have been renovated in stages, with a basement finished in one decade and a bathroom added in another, so plumbing from several eras sits side by side. Landlords who replace old supply lines, check sump pumps and walk tenants to the main shutoff at move-in prevent a lot of calls.

Townhouses, duplexes and shared walls

Parts of College Park's housing are attached: townhouse rows, duplexes sharing a center wall, and apartment buildings near Route 1. In older attached homes the shared walls are often masonry; in newer townhouses they're framed fire walls. Either way, water that reaches the base of a shared wall keeps going. It follows joists that bear on the wall, runs along the joint between wall and floor, and can wick into brick.

A leak in one home's kitchen or laundry can show up as a stain or wet carpet next door, sometimes before anyone at the source notices. Basements in attached homes tend to have floor drains close to the shared wall, and sewer connections that run near each other to the street, so a backup in one can affect the next.

After a leak near a shared wall, readings on both sides show whether the neighbor's home is affected, and drying may need access to both. Tell the neighbor early, and if either home is rented, tell both landlords. Photograph both sides before anything is moved, which helps everyone later.

Seepage, a plumbing leak or condensation?

Basement water comes from outside through the foundation, from inside through plumbing, or out of humid air as condensation, and each has its own fix. Seepage tends to show up hours or a day after rain, along the base of an exterior wall or at the joint with the floor, often leaving a white mineral crust called efflorescence, and it dries between storms. In low-lying neighborhoods it may come up through the floor itself.

A plumbing leak follows no weather pattern. It sits near a pipe, the water heater, the washer or a bathroom above, grows steadily, and moves the water meter's leak indicator when every tap is off. Condensation is common in humid summers: cold-water pipes and cool basement walls sweat, and the floor below stays damp, which fools plenty of basement tenants.

A few checks help. Tape a square of plastic to the wall for a day: moisture on the room side points to condensation, behind it to seepage. Read the meter before and after an hour with no water in use. Note when the dampness appears. Drying is similar for all three, but the cure differs: a plumber for leaks, drainage or waterproofing for seepage, a dehumidifier for condensation.

College Park water damage questions

Nearby communities and related services

College Park is part of our Washington Suburbs region. Services College Park owners and tenants use most:

• Rental Property Water Damage
• Basement Seepage & Groundwater
• Sewage Backup Cleanup
• Basement Water Damage
• Multi-Unit & Apartment Water Damage
• Ceiling Water Damage Repair

Neighboring communities:

• Hyattsville
• Riverdale
• Greenbelt
• Beltsville