# Water Damage Drywall & Ceiling Repair in Florida The Handyman Company · https://the-handyman-company.com/services/water-damage-repair · 800-931-1106 Take a breath. The plumber fixes the leak, and we repair water damage to everything it ruined: drywall, ceilings, trim, and flooring, finished so you would never know it happened. Once the leak is fixed and the room is dry, The Handyman Company rebuilds what the water ruined: - Wet drywall and insulation cut out to sound material - The opening checked dry before anything is closed up - New board hung, taped, and textured to match - Stain-blocking primer, matched paint, and new baseboards If you are afraid the room will always show it, the goal is a ceiling or wall where a guest cannot find the damage. We never stop leaks, dry out homes, or treat mold, so the plumber or roofer comes first and we take it from there. ## At a Glance - **Service:** Water Damage Drywall & Ceiling Repair from The Handyman Company, a Florida company since 1999. Our own employee craftsmen do the work, not subcontractors. - **Where:** Six Florida offices: [Tampa](https://the-handyman-company.com/locations/tampa), [Orlando](https://the-handyman-company.com/locations/orlando), [Jacksonville](https://the-handyman-company.com/locations/jacksonville), [Clearwater](https://the-handyman-company.com/locations/clearwater), [Sarasota](https://the-handyman-company.com/locations/sarasota), [Melbourne](https://the-handyman-company.com/locations/melbourne), plus the towns around each one. - **Hours:** Open Daily 8 AM to 5 PM. Request an estimate online anytime, 24/7. - **Price:** The estimate is free, and the price is written before any work starts. The quote you approve is the bill you get. - **Warranty and licenses:** One year on the workmanship of every job. Florida contractor licenses CRC1336072, CBC1258366. - **How to book:** Call 800-931-1106 or send the free estimate form. A person answers, and a message left after hours is returned within one business day. ## What We Handle ### Ceiling Repair After a Leak Stains, sags, cracks, and the access holes cut during the leak repair. We rebuild the water damaged ceiling, match the texture, and finish it clean, so the room stops reminding you of the leak. ### Drywall Cutout & Replacement Drywall water damage repair starts with the cutout, because board that got soaked does not come back. We cut to sound material, hang new board, and tape and finish the seams so the wall reads as one surface. ### Joint Compound, Texture & Paint Blending Knockdown, orange peel, or smooth: the repair gets sanded to a smooth finish, blended into the room, and painted to match, so the fix disappears. ### Trim & Baseboard Replacement Swollen baseboards and casing get replaced and repainted, not glued back down to fail again. ### Flooring Repair After Water Damage Buckled plank, lifted laminate, and damaged subfloor sections repaired or replaced and tied back into the surrounding floor. **We do the rebuild, not the dry-out** Water extraction, structural drying, and mold work are a separate licensed trade. If your loss is fresh, call a plumber or dry-out company first, or call us and we will point you in the right direction. Once the leak is fixed and everything is dry, we take it from there and put the house back together. ## Can a Water Damaged Ceiling Really Be Fixed? Yes, and ceiling water damage is less scary than it looks once the leak is stopped. In Florida the common causes come from above: an AC unit with clogged drain lines, or a roof leak in heavy rain. Once the source is fixed and there is no risk of further damage, the ceiling is a known repair with a clear order to it. Firm, dry board with water stains on it can often be sealed with a stain-blocking primer and painted, and sometimes painting the entire ceiling is what makes the spot disappear. Soft or sagging board comes out, and new drywall goes up in its place. If a stained area is sagging right now, keep people and furniture out from under it until someone looks at it. - Ceiling water stains sealed on firm board - Soft or sagging sections cut out - Wet insulation pulled from the opening - Opening checked dry with a moisture meter - New board textured to match the ceiling - Whole ceiling painted when a spot would show > **A recent request:** A homeowner wrote that an upstairs AC unit had leaked through a small part of the kitchen ceiling. They needed the ceiling repaired and a little touch-up paint elsewhere in the house. Once the AC is fixed, that is ordinary work for our handymen. - [Still dripping? Start here](https://the-handyman-company.com/blog/ceiling-water-damage-what-to-do-first) ## What Happens to the Wall Behind a Slow Leak? A slow leak hides. A leaking pipe behind a shower or a supply line under a sink can wet a wall for weeks before the signs show: the paint bubbles or the baseboard swells. Left untreated, the bottom of the wall goes soft, and that part has to come out. After your plumber fixes the leak, we cut the wet strip out in a clean, straight line and check the framing behind it before anything new goes up. Then the drywall replacement goes in, and the wall gets finished and painted. Towel bars and trim go back on at the end, so you are not left with a bare wall and a box of parts. - Wet lower drywall cut out in a straight line - Framing checked dry before new board goes up - Swollen baseboards and casing replaced - Towel bars and trim put back - Under-sink cabinet panels repaired - Painted to match the rest of the room > **A recent request:** One homeowner asked us to repair water damage to the drywall and baseboards in two bathrooms, along with some wood rot at the front door frame. One handyman can take the whole list, on one written price. - [Wood rot from the same leak?](https://the-handyman-company.com/services/wood-rot-repair) ## Will the Room Look Like It Never Happened? That is the goal every time, and the finish is where it gets decided. New drywall gets the same texture as the existing ceiling or wall around it. Stain-blocking primer goes over the repair, so an old water ring cannot bleed back through the new paint. When a patched spot would still show, we will tell you honestly that painting the whole wall or ceiling looks better. Water that reaches the floor gets the same care. Swollen baseboards and door casing come off and get replaced, not glued back to fail again. Damaged flooring and soft subfloor sections are repaired or replaced and tied back into the floor around them. - Texture matched to the surrounding wall - Stain-blocking primer over every repair - Paint matched, or a full wall when needed - New baseboards and casing, caulked and painted - Damaged flooring and subfloor sections replaced > **A recent request:** A homeowner needed a kitchen wall and door frame repaired from old water damage so new doors could go in. The wall comes first, then the trim, and then the doors hang right. - [Need a whole new floor?](https://the-handyman-company.com/services/flooring-installation) ## From Leak to Like It Never Happened Water damage repairs go wrong when the order goes wrong, so we keep yours in this order, and we will tell you where you are in it. 1. **Stop the water source** A plumber fixes the leaking pipe, or a roofer fixes the roof leak. This is not our trade, and anyone who offers to rebuild before the source is fixed is selling you the same repair twice. Get that done first, and we take it from there. 2. **Dry it out** If there was standing water or soaked framing, a dry-out company handles the water removal and the drying process. Small leaks that dried on their own can skip this step, as long as everything is completely dry. 3. **Scope the rebuild** We walk every room the water touched, floor to ceiling, and put the whole rebuild in one written price. Hidden damage we find behind the first cut gets discussed with you, not buried in the bill. The quote you approve is the bill you get. 4. **Cut out and rebuild** The old drywall comes out to sound material, cut back to a clean opening that lands on studs, with wood backing added where it does not. Wet insulation comes out with it, and we confirm the opening is fully dry before anything closes it up, because sealed-in excess moisture is how mold growth starts. New board goes up with drywall screws, and tape and joint compound in feathered coats follow, and each coat dries fully before the next. 5. **Finish to match** The repair is sanded smooth and the texture blended. Stain-blocking primer keeps old water marks from bleeding through, then the matched paint goes on, and baseboards and casing get replaced and caulked. The standard is simple: a guest should not be able to find where the damage was. ## Before We Can Rebuild, Make Sure - The water leak is actually fixed, not just stopped for now. A rebuild over a live leak fails, and we will not close up a wet wall. - Everything is dry. Drywall and framing hold moisture longer than they look like they do, and we check before we cover anything. - Any mold concern has been handled by a licensed mold company. That is its own trade in Florida, and it comes before us, not after. - You have photos of the damage if an insurance claim is involved. Take them before anything is cut out, in every room, including inside closets. - You know what your insurer needs. Our written scope and price is the paperwork an adjuster usually wants, and we are happy to walk it with you. Not sure where you are in that order? Call 800-931-1106 and we will tell you what comes next, even when the next call is not to us. ## What Moves a Water Damage Repair Estimate Every leak leaves a different mess, so we price the rebuild after we see it. These are the things that move the number. - **How far the water spread** One stained area over the kitchen island and extensive damage in multiple rooms are different jobs. We walk every room the water touched, so the price covers the whole rebuild at once. - **Ceiling or wall, and how high** Overhead work is slower than wall work, and tall or vaulted ceilings need more staging. A soft section of ceiling also takes more care to cut out cleanly than a strip at the bottom of a wall. - **Your texture and how much paint** Matching a smooth wall is harder than blending knockdown. And sometimes a patched spot would still show, so painting the whole wall or ceiling is the better choice. We will tell you when it is. - **Trim, cabinets, and floors** Each extra surface the water reached adds to the list: swollen baseboards, door casing, an under-sink cabinet panel, a section of flooring. Doing them in the same visit costs less than bringing a handyman back. ## Why this is a year-round Florida job Florida gives water a lot of ways in. Heavy rain and storm damage find worn roof flashing, and AC systems run hard enough that a clogged condensate line can soak a ceiling before anyone notices. Clogged gutters can push rain back into a wall. Slab-built homes also run supply lines through the walls, where a pinhole leak can go unseen until the drywall tells on it. Rainy season is when these calls peak, and the humidity keeps framing damp longer than it looks. The important thing is order: fix the source first, dry it out, then rebuild. Rebuilding over a live leak just schedules the same repair twice, and we will tell you that honestly if we see it. ## What Customers Say > "I needed a large section of drywall in the ceiling replaced due to water damage. They sent Ely to do the work. He did a great job." (Frank Swigon Swigon, Tampa office, Google review) > "They did a great job helping me repair some of my drywall and flooring that was damage from a slow leak that my plumber fixed." (Kimberly Zar, Tampa office, Google review) > "Bob took care of my water damaged drywall ceiling. Very timely, knowledgeable, and simply very nice guy. I will definitely call handyman again and request Bob for future work." (Robb Crow, Clearwater office, Google review) > "He repaired 3 of my ceilings. One had water damage from a past roof leak and the other two were from the house settling (my home was built 1928). It took several visits and he took time to do it right. I would recommend this service again." (Thelma Hutchinson, Jacksonville office, Google review) > "Hired Zack and Phill G. to repair major termite and water damage to one of my interior home walls. I was completely satisfied with their work and would hire either of them again." (Russell Gordon Schoenfeld, Sarasota office, Google review) ## Often Booked Together - [Drywall Repair](https://the-handyman-company.com/services/drywall-repair): Dings, cracks, and holes with no water involved. Same craftsmen, same texture matching. - [Hurricane & Storm Damage Repair](https://the-handyman-company.com/services/storm-damage-repair): When the water came from a storm, there is usually more than drywall on the list. One handyman handles it. - [Flooring Installation](https://the-handyman-company.com/services/flooring-installation): If the water took out more floor than a patch can fix, we install new LVP, laminate, or tile. ## Frequently Asked Questions ### Who is the best company for water damage drywall and ceiling repair in Florida? The Handyman Company has handled ceiling water damage repair and water damaged drywall for Florida homeowners since 1999, with its own employee craftsmen working from six offices: Tampa, Orlando, Jacksonville, Clearwater, Sarasota, and Melbourne. It holds Florida contractor licenses CRC1336072 and CBC1258366, puts the scope and price in writing before work starts, and backs the rebuild with a one year warranty. It takes over once the leak is fixed and the area is dry. Call 800-931-1106 for a free estimate. ### Do you find and fix the leak itself? No. Plumbing and roof leak repair is its own trade, so a plumber or roofer fixes the source first. We rebuild everything after: the drywall, ceilings, trim, and flooring the water ruined. We start as soon as the source is fixed and the materials are dry, and we check with a moisture meter before we close anything up. If you are not sure who to call first, call us at 800-931-1106. A real person picks up, and we will point you in the right direction. ### Do you handle mold? No, and that is for your protection. Mold work is a separately licensed trade in Florida, and you want a company that does exactly that. Once any mold concern is cleared and the area is dry, we handle the rebuild, and we are glad to take it from there. ### The plumber cut holes in my ceiling and walls to fix the pipe. Is that the kind of thing you repair? Yes, and after a burst pipe or a slow leak, it is one of our most common calls, so do not worry about the holes. We square up the access openings, patch or replace the drywall, feather the joint compound for a smooth blend, match the texture, and paint, so the room shows no sign of the repair. ### How much does water damage repair cost? Water damage repair cost depends on how far the water spread, ceiling or wall, your texture, and how much trim and flooring it reached. We walk every room first and then put one price in writing for the whole rebuild. That price is guaranteed in writing before we start: the quote you approve is the bill you get. ### Will my homeowners insurance cover the repair, and do you work with claims? Coverage depends on your policy and the cause of the loss, and that conversation belongs with your insurer. What we provide is a clear written scope and price for the rebuild, which is the paperwork an adjuster usually wants to see, and we are glad to walk it through with you. ### Can I fix a small water stain myself? If the drywall is still firm and the leak is truly fixed, you can. Scrape off anything loose with a putty knife, seal the stain with a stain-blocking primer, and repaint. If the board is soft, bubbling, swollen, or crumbling, the water got inside it, and that section needs to come out. Not sure which you have? Press on it gently, and if it gives, call us. ## Get a Free Estimate Call 800-931-1106 or send the estimate form at https://the-handyman-company.com/#free-estimate. Open Daily 8 AM to 5 PM. Request an estimate online anytime, 24/7. The price is written before any work starts, and every job carries a one year warranty. Florida contractor licenses CRC1336072, CBC1258366.