Water Damage Restoration services in New Hampshire

The Merrimack River flooded Manchester in 1936 and 2006, and that 2006 storm was severe in Concord too. Portsmouth also deals with the tidal Piscataqua and salt air.

Spring melt is when wet cellars tend to show up.

Manchester has converted mill buildings and old worker tenements, Nashua has its Tree Streets houses, and Portsmouth has colonial and Federal homes in a historic district where exterior work may face review.

Start with water damage restoration, flooded basement cleanup or burst pipe water damage. If you own a seasonal camp, drain it or have someone check it regularly.

Cities and neighborhoods: Concord, Keene, Laconia, Lebanon and Hanover, Manchester, Nashua, Portsmouth.

Think in seasons. Winter means frozen lines and ice dams. Spring melt means wet cellars and rising rivers. Summer can still deliver a flood, as it did in July 2023, when storms flooded waterways and those mid-July dates later brought a federal disaster declaration.

Snow totals differ by location. Keene normally sees about 60 inches, though 2002 to 2003 brought 112.5. Laconia sees about 62, Portsmouth about 65, Lebanon 72.1 and Hanover 60.6, so a roof in the Upper Valley has a different winter from one on the Seacoast.

The Merrimack has been the state's big flood river. In 1936, it destroyed Manchester's McGregor Bridge and damaged mills and buildings. Seventy years later, in May 2006, three days and more than eight inches of rain set a mark near Concord unseen for at least 70 years, and the river rose about 10 feet above flood stage in Manchester. Dozens of homes flooded, and electricity was cut along sections of the river.

Keene had its own emergency just seven months earlier. The October 2005 storm brought around 12 inches of rain and record flooding, and the two events behaved differently. If your home went through both, or has been wet more than once, look closer at the framing before assuming a past repair is still sound.

Many New Hampshire cellars were never meant to be dry rooms. Stone or block foundations let spring groundwater weep through, so ask the contractor to tell seepage apart from a sudden event, as your insurer will likely make that distinction too. Keep stored things off the floor and run a dehumidifier during melt season.

Portsmouth is its own case. When fire took 244 buildings in 1813, the city ordered brick and slate for new work in a fire district. Those downtown buildings now tend to have shops below and apartments above, so a leak can affect two different parties. Exterior repairs in the historic area may need review, and it is best to ask before replacing old windows or masonry.

Converted mill buildings in Manchester and Nashua raise different questions, since shared systems and building management control access. Start with management, and then bring in the contractor.

A sudden burst pipe is usually handled differently from groundwater seepage, flood or a slow leak. River flooding generally requires a separate flood policy. Ice dam claims can hinge on where the damage shows up, and the interior water is often treated separately from the roof ice itself, so ask your agent specifically. The New Hampshire Insurance Department answers questions from policyholders.

For more on what to tell an adjuster, read working with your insurance adjuster. And if the water was gradual, say so honestly; a misdescribed claim causes more trouble than a declined one.