Disaster Recovery & Restoration,
Services in Lisle, IL

Water, fire and mold restoration in Lisle, IL

ServiceMaster Restoration Services is based in Lisle, at 924 Ogden Ave, and provides 24/7 water damage, fire and smoke, mold, biohazard and cleaning services for homes and businesses across the village. The most useful local fact: Lisle has 576 acres of regulatory floodplain along the East Branch of the DuPage River and four creeks.

Why does Lisle flood, and where?

Lisle is a river town. The Village of Lisle lists five waterways with regulatory floodplains: the East Branch of the DuPage River, St. Joseph Creek, St. Procopius Creek, Rott Creek and Schwartz Creek. Its flood information page also warns that flooding is not limited to mapped zones. Storm sewers, roadside ditches and the drainage paths between homes can all be overwhelmed in a heavy storm.

The river has been tested before. The National Weather Service's record of major Illinois floods describes April 17–18, 2013, when several DuPage County sites reported more than seven inches of rain, the East Branch of the DuPage River reached record flooding, basements flooded near Lisle and Naperville, and some Lisle residents had to be rescued.

The village has been working on the problem for decades. It has bought 26 floodplain properties, built the PrairieWalk Pond detention area downtown, and takes part in FEMA's Community Rating System, which gives floodplain policyholders a 25% discount on flood insurance premiums. A state-built levee from the 1960s runs along parts of the East Branch and St. Joseph Creek, and the village's FY2023/24 budget lists a project to rehabilitate it between Middleton Avenue and the BNSF tracks, with the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers funding $5,224,700.

Below-grade space takes the first hit

When the East Branch rises or the storm sewers back up, water finds the lowest point in the building first. Finished basements, garden-level units and crawl spaces are where carpet pad, drywall and stored boxes soak up water fastest, so that is where drying and moisture readings start.

What does Lisle's housing stock mean for repairs?

Most of Lisle was built in a twenty-year burst. Census figures show 27.4% of the village's 10,466 housing units date from the 1970s and another 27.8% from the 1980s, with a median year built of 1983.

That 1970s wave matters. The ACS 2020–2024 5-year estimates put 42.3% of Lisle's homes before 1980, and many of those predate 1978, the year the federal government banned the sale of lead-based paint for use in homes. The EPA's Renovation, Repair and Painting (RRP) rule requires firms paid to disturb painted surfaces in pre-1978 homes to be certified and to use lead-safe work practices. EPA's rule has an emergency provision for work immediately needed to protect property after a disaster, but cleaning and cleaning verification still apply.

Asbestos is the other question with older materials. The EPA says you can't tell whether a material contains asbestos by looking at it, and that a trained, accredited professional should take samples before damaged insulation, flooring or drywall is disturbed.

Lisle is also unusually mixed for a suburb. Only 4,523 homes are single-family detached, and renters occupy 4,436 units, so a leak or fire often involves shared walls, shared plumbing stacks and an association or landlord as well as the owner.

Shared walls change the job

In a townhome or condo, water from one unit can travel through a ceiling or wall cavity into the next. Moisture mapping on both sides of the wall shows how far it went, which helps owners, associations and insurers sort out whose policy responds to which damage.

What to do in the first hour after water or fire damage

1. Get people out and stay out if it isn't safe. After a fire, the American Red Cross says to stay out of a fire-damaged home until local fire authorities say it is safe to re-enter.
2. Avoid electrical hazards. Ready.gov warns not to touch electrical equipment if it is wet or if you are standing in water, and to turn off the electricity only if it is safe to do so.
3. Stop the source if you can. Close the main water valve for a plumbing leak. River or sewer water has to recede on its own.
4. Document before you move things. Take photos and video of rooms, water lines on walls and damaged belongings for your insurer.
5. Call your insurer and a restoration company. The Red Cross advises drying a flooded home within 24 to 48 hours if possible, and assuming mold growth if you can't.
6. Protect yourself during cleanup. Wear boots, gloves and eye protection, and keep children and anyone with asthma away from wet, moldy areas.

Restoration services in Lisle

Because our office is in the village, Lisle is home ground for every service we offer. After a burst pipe, appliance leak or river flood, our water damage restoration team in Lisle handles extraction, structural drying and moisture monitoring. Basement-specific problems are covered on our basement water damage page.

When smoke or soot is the problem, fire damage restoration in Lisle covers board-up, soot cleanup, odor treatment and contents. Damp below-grade rooms that start to smell musty call for mold remediation in Lisle, with containment and HEPA filtration under industry guidance.

For sensitive situations, biohazard and trauma cleanup in Lisle is handled discreetly. When a space needs to be made livable again, our cleaning services in Lisle cover homes, offices and move-outs.

For background reading, our guide to why DuPage basements flood after heavy rain explains the drainage side, and our breakdown of water damage restoration costs in DuPage County helps you understand an estimate. We can also help document your claim through our insurance claim assistance service.

Drying is measured, not guessed

Air movers and dehumidifiers run until moisture meter readings in drywall, framing and subfloor come back near those of unaffected materials in the same building. Stopping early is how hidden mold gets started behind baseboards.

Serving Lisle and the surrounding area

From our Ogden Avenue office we serve DuPage & Will County, including neighboring Naperville, Woodridge and Downers Grove. Questions about a loss or an estimate? Contact us online, or call (630) 241-1111 any time, day or night.