Flooded? Photograph everything before you move it

A plain guide to the first week: what to document, what you can safely do yourself to keep the bill down, when to call a plumber, when to call a restoration crew, and where help is locally.

Last updated October 26, 2026

Call (970) 340-2357

Durango, Bayfield, Pagosa Springs and the surrounding area

This was a record flood, and the water was not clean

The San Juan River at Pagosa Springs crested at 15.02 feet — the highest reading in more than a century, and two to three feet above the 2025 flood. The Animas at Durango went from 1,170 to 9,850 cubic feet per second in a day.

Pagosa Springs took 5.05 inches of rain, Bayfield 3.27 and Durango 3.06, and US 550, US 160, CO 151 and CO 112 all closed at some point during the event.

Governor Polis declared a disaster emergency covering La Plata, Archuleta, Montezuma, Dolores, Hinsdale, San Miguel, Ouray, San Juan, Mineral, Alamosa and Rio Grande counties.

Before you touch anything

River floodwater carries sewage from overwhelmed systems, septic overflow, heating oil and farm runoff. Anything the floodwater touched should be treated as contaminated, not as wet.

Nitrile gloves, rubber boots and an N95. Keep children and pets out of the wet rooms, wash before you eat, and throw out food and medicine that got wet.

An M&R restoration technician extracting standing water from a flooded room — Water extraction on an M&R restoration job. Standing water comes out first; everything else waits on it.

Step one

Take far more photographs than feels reasonable

The house gets cleaned up long before anyone comes to assess it, and whatever you have already thrown out is gone from the claim with it. Photograph before, photograph during demo, and keep the pile until it has been seen.

01Stand in every doorway and take one wide shot of the whole room before you move anything.
02Photograph the high-water line with a tape measure held against the wall, in the same frame.
03Shoot the data plate on the furnace, the water heater, the air handler and the washer — the model and serial numbers are what an adjuster prices from.
04Open the cabinets and photograph under every sink, behind the toilets and inside the lowest drawers.
05Photograph damaged contents individually, not as a heap, and keep the heap until it has been seen.
06Walk the outside of the house: foundation, crawlspace vents, the meter, the AC pad, the fence line, the driveway.
07During demo, photograph behind every piece of drywall as it comes off — the wet insulation and the framing behind it is the evidence that the cut had to go that high.
08Photograph the subfloor once the carpet and pad are up, and the back of the material you removed.
09Keep every receipt, including fans, dehumidifiers, gloves and bottled water, and photograph those too.
10Back the photos up somewhere that is not the phone — the phone is the one thing in the house most likely to be lost next.

Where it goes

Where flood debris goes in Archuleta and La Plata County

Unlike New Mexico, disposal here is open. The Archuleta County Landfill is taking flood-damaged appliances, personal belongings and separated drywall, two sites are taking wood debris, and La Plata County has funded dumpsters delivered to approved flood-affected addresses. Separate your materials as you go — it is the difference between a load that is accepted and one that is turned away.

Keep the bill down

What you can do yourself, safely

The first 48 hours decide how much of the house is saved, and most of what matters in that window is labor rather than licensed work. Every hour of it you do yourself is an hour nobody bills you for.

Shut the water off at the main and the gas at the meter if you have any doubt at all about either.
Open windows and get air moving through the house, outward, as soon as the weather allows.
Pull up soaked carpet and pad and get them out of the room — the pad holds more water than the carpet and is almost never saved.
Move furniture up onto blocks or foil, and get anything wooden off a wet floor before the legs wick it up.
Rent or buy fans and a dehumidifier and run them continuously; the first 48 hours decide how much of the house is saved.
Empty lower cabinets and closets, remove the drawers, and prop the doors open so the cavities can dry.
Take the baseboards off carefully — they often survive, and removing them lets the wall cavity breathe.
Drill or cut weep holes low in the drywall so a cavity can dry without tearing out the whole wall.
Bag and discard anything porous that sat in the water: mattresses, upholstered furniture, pillows, particleboard, insulation and any food or medicine that got wet.
Wear nitrile gloves, rubber boots and an N95 while you do any of it, and keep children and pets out of the wet rooms.

Who to call

A plumber and a restoration crew do different jobs

They get confused because both of them show up to water. One makes the water stop and the drains run. The other dries the building and proves that it is dry.

Call a plumber when

Drains are slow or backing up after the water has gone down — flood silt packs a sewer line solid.
The toilets gurgle, or water comes up in a tub or shower when a different fixture drains.
You have a septic system and the tank or the leach field was underwater.
The water heater, boiler or any gas appliance sat in standing water. It is replaced, not dried out.
The well head was submerged, or the water coming out of the tap looks, smells or tastes wrong.
A supply line, hose bib or crawlspace pipe broke, froze or was torn loose by moving water or debris.
You smell gas anywhere, at any time — leave first, then call from outside.

Call a restoration crew when

Water sat in the house for more than a few hours, or soaked into walls above the baseboard.
The floodwater came from the river, a sewer or a septic system, rather than from a clean supply pipe.
There is standing water you cannot remove with a shop vac and a mop.
Insulation, subfloor, hardwood or the bottom of the drywall is wet — those hold water long after the surface feels dry.
You can smell it. A musty smell means growth has already started, usually within 24 to 48 hours.
The ceiling is stained, sagging or dripping, or a wall feels soft when you press it.
Your insurer wants documented moisture readings and a drying log, which is most of them.

Plenty of flooded houses need both, in that order: the plumber makes the water stop and the drains run, then the restoration crew dries the structure and documents it. Asking one company for both is the point of calling a company that has both.

Plumbing services Water damage restoration Mold remediation Culverts & drainage

Air movers and a dehumidifier running on an M&R structural drying job — Structural drying with air movers and dehumidifiers, logged daily with moisture readings — which is what an insurer asks for.

Worth paying for

The parts that need a license or an instrument

Everything above saves you money. These are the ones where doing it yourself costs more than it saves, because they either need a license, a camera, a moisture meter or a replacement part.

Electrical: a panel, outlet, breaker or circuit that was wet is a licensed job, and the power stays off until it has been looked at.
Gas appliances: furnaces, boilers, water heaters and dryers that were underwater get replaced by a licensed technician, not relit.
Sewer and septic lines: a camera inspection shows whether the line is packed with silt or has been pulled apart.
Structural drying: commercial air movers, desiccant dehumidifiers and daily moisture readings are what prove a house is dry.
Anything behind a wall you have not opened, in a crawlspace, or on a ceiling you would need a ladder to reach.
Mold remediation with containment, if growth has already taken hold.

Local help, right now

Where to get help in La Plata County

These are not our phone numbers. They are the ones worth having first.

Crisis Cleanup — (970) 283-7325

Free volunteer help with muck-out and debris removal, coordinated across the October 2026 Colorado floods. Help is not guaranteed, but registering costs nothing.

La Plata County dumpster program

The county has funded delivery, haul and disposal of containers for flood debris, first come first served, one per approved address in the affected area.

Archuleta County Landfill — 9179 County Road 500

Taking flood-damaged appliances, belongings and separated drywall. Mon–Fri 8am–3:30pm, Sat 10am–2pm. Wood debris goes to 976 S. 5th St or the CSU Extension Office at 344 B US-84.

Community Emergency Relief Fund · 2-1-1

The Community Foundation serving Southwest Colorado has activated relief funds with the City of Durango, La Plata County and Archuleta County. Dial 2-1-1, text 898-211, or see 211colorado.org for the rest.

Questions we are being asked this week

Flood damage, answered

Should I start tearing out drywall right away?

Photograph it first, every bit of it, including behind each piece as it comes off. Then yes — wet drywall and insulation need to come out quickly, and in Archuleta and La Plata County there are places open to take it. Cut 12 to 24 inches above the high-water line, and keep the materials separated.

Is the floodwater in my house dangerous?

Treat it as contaminated. River floodwater carries sewage from overwhelmed systems, septic overflow, heating oil and farm runoff. Anything the floodwater touched should be treated as contaminated, not as wet. Wear nitrile gloves, rubber boots and an N95, keep children and pets out of the wet rooms, wash before you eat, and throw out any food or medicine that got wet.

How much of this can I do myself?

More than most people expect, and it genuinely saves money. Removing carpet and pad, carrying out ruined contents, running fans and dehumidifiers, emptying cabinets and taking off baseboards are all homeowner work. What is worth paying for is the part that needs a license or an instrument: wet electrical, gas appliances, sewer lines, and documented structural drying.

Why do the photos matter so much?

Because the house gets cleaned up long before anyone comes to assess it, and whatever you threw away is gone from the claim with it. Photos and video taken before and during demo are what an adjuster prices from, and officials have said the same about any federal assistance that follows the declaration.

My water heater and furnace were under water. Can they be dried out and used?

They are replaced. A gas control valve, a burner assembly and an electrical control board that have been submerged are not restored to a safe condition by drying, and the manufacturers say the same. The same goes for a submerged electrical panel or any outlet below the water line.

How fast does mold start?

Usually inside 24 to 48 hours in a warm, wet, closed-up room. Airflow is the single most useful thing in that window, which is why getting fans running matters more on day one than any decision about what to tear out.

Do you charge for a look?

Call (970) 340-2357 and ask. We are taking flood calls across La Plata County and routing them by how bad the water is, not by who called first.

For our neighbors

Flood pricing for anyone affected — ask when you call.

M&R has worked in La Plata County since 1954, and this is our town too. Plumbing and restoration crews are running on flood calls now. Call (970) 340-2357 and tell whoever answers that it is flood damage — it changes how the call is routed.

Flood crews are running now

Plumbing and restoration, dispatched by how bad the water is. Call (970) 340-2357.

Call (970) 340-2357

Or schedule online