In short: if you are in Palm Springs / the Coachella Valley area and reading this while having just…read moreexperienced a flood, forget any other "big name" flood response crew. You are not going to find a better team than this. Dan's team is exceptionally skilled, organized, respectful and most importantly FAST- and I wish I'd found them sooner!
Full review:
When our tenants called about a flood at our rental property in Palm Springs, I panicked and did what I thought was the "safe" move: I hired a big-name local flood response company with decent (but not amazing) reviews. Six days later, the house was somehow still damp. Progress felt slow, and even my insurance adjuster strongly suggested that I do my research when choosing the company to do the repairs once the house was actually dry. I knew I didn't want that first company doing the actual repairs.
I turned to Yelp looking for someone who could move fast, work cleanly, and understand the insurance process; someone who could get the job done with attention to detail, given how much attention we'd put into our home initially, but somebody who could work super, super fast. I thought I'd message AVA Flood Restoration and just get a second opinion on how the drying was going. I was on my way out to dinner and Dan (the owner) said he could come over later that night. I was already impressed, but wanted to wait and see what he'd say.
Dan came over right at 9pm as promised. He told me that for a house of our size it simply didn't have the right amount of dryers, and that the house should have already been dry given it had been six days. He told me he had a team ready to go that night if needed, but that either way, he could assure me he could work with speed and attention to detail, and had experience with other homes where design was a key element. I slept on it, and the next morning, fired the other company and hired Dan. He took over from the other company right away, brought in about double the number of dryers, and was candid that the prior team had cut corners. That transparency was a huge deal because at that point I just wanted the truth and a clear plan. He handled explaining what had happened to my insurance company so insurance could just pay his team directly rather than me having to act as a middleman.
From there, the pace and organization were night and day. Beyond drying, Dan's foreman, Kody, led the rebuild and he's genuinely skilled. New flooring, drywall, electrical and plumbing repairs, cabinets, paint... the whole scope. The crew was also incredibly consistent: they were there every day between 7-8am, and if I had questions they took the time to explain what was happening and why.
The #1 reason I'd recommend Dan is communication. I'm a millennial, communication is everything to me. Dan is truly next-level. He responds to everything, is always a phone call away day or night, and he texts frequent updates so you're never left wondering what's going on. A lot of contractors say they communicate well. Dan actually does.
Three weeks later, our house was back together and our tenants were back in, honestly better than ever. They made a pretty awful experience as good as it could have been - an enormous thank you to all of you: Dan, Kody, Mike, Derek - while we hope we never have a flood again, if we ever do need a contractor for other work, we absolutely know who to call. By contrast, our neighbors up the street had a similar pipe burst a year prior, and it took them six months to get back to normal dealing with other slower contractors who just didn't prioritize them.
If you're dealing with flood damage and need someone who will show up, follow through, and move with urgency, Dan and AVA Flood Restoration are the real deal.
