Fire sprinkler water damage cleanup across Los Angeles

Sprinkler lines hold water that has sat in steel pipe for years. It comes out dark, smelly and dirty, so it is handled as contaminated rather than clean.

The volume is high and it keeps flowing until the system valve is shut, so the water spreads through ceilings and floors fast.

Accidental sprinkler discharge is usually a head knocked by a ladder, a forklift, a hanging object or a tenant move, or a head damaged by heat from a nearby appliance. Water flows at full pressure until the building shuts the system valve. We extract standing water on the floor where it happened, remove wet ceiling tiles and carpet that took the dirty water, and set drying equipment. The fire sprinkler contractor resets the system; we note which head activated and photograph it before anything is moved.

A sprinkler pipe leak comes from corrosion, a failed fitting or a joint that loosened, often above a drop ceiling where it drips for a while before anyone sees it. Ceiling tiles stain and sag, and water runs along the grid to walls and floors. We find the wet extent with meters and imaging, remove soaked tiles and insulation, dry the structure and document the area so the sprinkler contractor and the owner see the same picture. Work is scheduled around tenants where we can.

Multi-floor sprinkler water is the hardest part of a building loss. Water from an upper floor travels down through slab penetrations, elevator shafts, stairwells and ceiling cavities to every floor below. We work from the source floor down, reading each floor, unit and common area, setting equipment where it is wet, and keeping a separate dated record for each tenant or unit. Elevator pits and electrical rooms are checked and reported to the building, since those need their own specialists before use.