Austin Fire and Flood

05/08/2026

A musty smell in the bathroom turned out to be something much bigger. This Round Rock homeowner discovered mold spreading behind their sink cabinet from a hidden plumbing leak they never knew was there.

Our team at Austin Fire & Flood responded the same day, contained the mold, removed every bit of affected material, and rebuilt the entire cabinet in-house. No second contractor needed, no extra hassle during an already stressful situation.

Watch their story and hear how the whole process went from start to finish. If something smells off in your home, trust your gut and get it checked.

05/07/2026

Jump To: → Why Smoke Damage Is Easy to Overlook → Hidden Soot: Where It Hides and How to Find It → The Stubborn Return of Smoke Odor → HVAC Contamination and Indoor Air → When to Call in Professionals → Frequently Asked Questions Smoke damage doesn’t always announce itself. Long after the fire trucks […]

Think the smoke damage is gone after a fire? Hidden soot, absorbed odors, and HVAC contamination often linger. Learn the signs most Austin homeowners miss.

05/06/2026

May is Building Safety Month, and older Austin homes have a shared issue most owners never think about until they start a renovation: asbestos in places you'd never expect.

The usual culprits in pre-1980 homes are popcorn ceiling texture, nine-inch vinyl floor tiles with the black mastic underneath, pipe insulation in older utility rooms, joint compound in the drywall itself, and vermiculite attic insulation that looks like tiny silvery pebbles.

You cannot identify asbestos by sight. A certified lab test on a small sample is the only way. Scraping, sanding, or demo-ing any of these materials without testing first is exactly how fibers get airborne in your living space.

If your home is from the 70s or earlier, test before you touch.

05/04/2026

A lot of folks tell us "the laminate still looks fine, so we're good." It's not.

Once water gets under laminate planks, it soaks into the fiberboard core. That core swells, buckles, and never returns to its original shape, even after weeks of drying. The surface layer can look perfect while the structure underneath is ruined.

We see this almost every week after dishwasher or fridge leaks across Austin. By the time the floor starts to pucker at the seams, the damage is already a month old.

If water has been under your laminate, plan to replace it. Drying it in place is a temporary illusion.

More on how we handle residential water damage: https://austinfireandflood.com/water-damage-restoration/

512-967-6780

04/30/2026

April is Earthquake Awareness Month. Austin isn't on a fault line, but we've had minor tremors - and the real takeaway for Texas homeowners isn't seismic activity. It's foundation movement.

Our clay soil expands and contracts with moisture levels, and that constant shifting creates cracks in slab foundations. Those cracks become entry points for water. Especially during spring storms when the ground is oversaturated.

If you've noticed new cracks in your walls, doors sticking, or uneven floors, your foundation may be shifting - and water may already be getting underneath your slab.

At Austin Fire & Flood, we handle slab foundation water damage, including detection, extraction, and structural drying for those hard-to-reach spaces.

512-967-6780 | https://austinfireandflood.com/water-damage-help/

04/29/2026

A Round Rock homeowner kept noticing a musty smell in their bathroom, but couldn't figure out where it was coming from.

Turns out, a slow leak under the sink had been quietly feeding mold growth inside the cabinet for weeks.

Our team at Austin Fire & Flood came out, assessed the damage, and found mold spreading through the cabinet and into the surrounding wall. We contained the area, removed all affected materials, treated everything with antimicrobial agents, and rebuilt the cabinet from scratch, all in-house.

Check out the full case study with before and after photos here: https://austinfireandflood.com/case-studies/bathroom-mold-removal-and-cabinet-rebuild-in-round-rock-tx/

04/28/2026

Happy National Plumbers Day to the pros who fix the problem before we ever get the call.

Seriously - plumbers save homes every single day. And when the damage goes beyond the pipe, that's where our team picks up. Plumbers fix the source. We handle what it left behind.

Shoutout to Austin's plumbing community. We appreciate every one of you.

512-967-6780

04/24/2026

A house fire is one of the most overwhelming things a family can go through. And once the flames are out, most people have no idea what to do next.

That's why we put together a step-by-step guide covering the first 24 hours after a fire. From staying safe when re-entering your home, to documenting damage for your insurance claim, to protecting your belongings from further smoke and water damage, this timeline walks you through every critical step.

If you or someone you know has been through a fire, save this and share it. Knowledge is everything when you're in crisis mode.
Read the full guide here: https://austinfireandflood.com/knowledge-base/what-to-do-in-the-first-24-hours-after-a-house-fire/

04/23/2026

Bathroom Mold Removal and Cabinet Rebuild in Round Rock, TX When a Round Rock homeowner noticed a musty smell coming from their bathroom, they figured it was just the Texas humidity doing its thing. But the smell got worse. And then they spotted it: dark patches spreading behind the bathroom sink cabinet. That’s when they […]

When a Round Rock homeowner noticed a musty smell coming from their bathroom, they figured it was just the Texas humidity doing its thing. But the smell got

04/22/2026

Nine years serving Austin this year. Still family-owned. Still locally operated. Still picking up the phone at 2 AM when your kitchen is flooding.

A lot has changed since 2017 - our team has grown, we've added full rebuild capabilities, and we've helped hundreds of families get back into their homes after water damage, fire, mold, and storms.

What hasn't changed: we still treat every home like it's ours.

Thanks, Austin. We don't take it for granted.

512-967-6780

04/20/2026

"Just open the windows and let it dry out."

We hear this all the time after a pipe bursts or a roof leak soaks through the ceiling. And we get it - sounds like common sense. Air flow should dry things out, right?

In Austin's humidity? Not even close. Opening windows in 70-80% relative humidity actually slows the drying process and can make mold growth start faster. You're essentially pumping moisture-heavy air into an already wet space.

Professional drying uses industrial dehumidifiers that pull 15-20 gallons of water from the air per day, plus air movers that force evaporation from wet materials. We monitor moisture levels daily until everything reads dry - not just surface dry, but inside walls and under flooring.

Your Shop-Vac gets the puddle. We get the moisture you can't see.

512-967-6780 | https://austinfireandflood.com/water-damage-remediation/