Olde Del Mar Water Damage Restorationfor hillside homes above Crest Canyon

Olde Del Mar is the older residential heart of the city's south side. Streets wind up the hill from Camino del Mar, past houses that range from modest mid-century homes to architect-designed rebuilds, until they reach Crest Road along the ridge. To the east the land drops into Crest Canyon, an open space preserve that is part of the San Dieguito River Park, and to the west it falls toward the coast. ^[2]

Slope is the theme. Many lots are steep enough that houses step down the hill, with a main floor at street level and one or more levels below, or the reverse, with the street at the bottom and the house climbing above it. Where a lower floor is set into the hillside, its uphill wall is effectively a retaining wall holding back soil, and soil holds water after rain.

Trees are the second theme. Mature pines, eucalyptus and other large trees shade many lots. They are part of the character of the neighborhood, but their roots go looking for water and often find it in the joints of old clay or cast-iron sewer laterals. Their needles and leaves also fill gutters, roof valleys and drains, which matters a great deal during winter storms.

Add a housing stock that mixes original construction with decades of additions, and water damage in Olde Del Mar tends to involve hidden paths: water entering at one level and showing up at another, or a slow leak behind a retaining wall that is only noticed when a lower-level room starts to smell musty.

Southern California gets most of its rain in a few winter storms, and some of those storms, the ones forecasters describe as atmospheric rivers, can drop a lot of rain in a short time. ^[3] On the hills of Olde Del Mar, that rain runs off roofs, driveways and steep yards quickly. Where it goes depends on grading, gutters, drains and the neighbors' lots uphill.

Homes at the bottom of a slope, or with a driveway that tips down toward a garage, are the ones that usually take water. It can come in under a garage door, through a lower-level door, or through the uphill wall of a room set into the hill. Runoff that has crossed yards and streets is treated as contaminated, so porous materials it soaks are usually removed rather than dried.

Erosion adds debris. After a big storm on the slopes near Crest Canyon, mud and leaves can wash against walls and into window wells. Clearing that material from around the house, and checking that drains are flowing, is part of the cleanup.

Many Olde Del Mar homes have sewer laterals that are decades old, laid in clay pipe or cast iron. Clay pipe comes in short sections joined at bell joints, and roots from nearby trees find those joints, grow in, and form dense mats. Cast iron corrodes from the inside and can crack or flatten. Either way, the lateral eventually blocks, and waste water backs up through the lowest drain in the house.

On a hillside home, the lowest drain might be a shower or toilet in a lower bedroom suite, a laundry drain or a garage floor drain. When it backs up, the water is sewage, Category 3, and the room needs containment, removal of soaked materials, disinfection and drying. ^[4]

Before cleanup finishes, a plumber should clear the line and run a camera through it. If roots or cracks are found, repairing or lining the lateral prevents the next backup. In most cases the lateral from the house to the public main is the owner's responsibility.

Pine needles and eucalyptus leaves fill gutters and roof valleys quickly, and on a complex roof with many valleys, a blocked valley can send water under shingles or tiles and into the attic. Skylights, which are common in remodeled homes here, add more flashing to maintain.

Roof leaks are slow and hidden. Water soaks attic insulation, runs along framing, and may come down inside a wall before it shows on a ceiling. Restoration means removing wet insulation, drying the attic framing and any wall cavities the water reached, and replacing ceiling drywall that sagged or stained, once the roofer has made the repair.

A fall check, before the first storm, is the best prevention: clear gutters and valleys, look at skylight flashing, and trim branches that touch the roof.

Drying a hillside home often means drying several levels at once, and water that soaked a lower-level wall against the hill may keep wicking in from the soil until the drainage is fixed. Contractors dry the room with dehumidifiers and air movers and monitor the uphill wall closely; if readings stop improving, the problem is probably outside.

Coastal humidity also plays a part, though Olde Del Mar sits higher than the beach. Closed-house drying with dehumidifiers is usually the most reliable. On dry, warm days, especially when Santa Ana winds blow, outdoor air may help, but that decision should follow the readings.

Once the house is dry, the rebuild is a chance to deal with the cause. For lower-level seepage, a drainage or waterproofing contractor can look at the retaining wall drain, the waterproofing on the outside of the wall, and the grading around the house. For deck leaks, a new membrane and better drains. For repeated runoff, regrading, channel drains or a small berm can redirect water away from doors.

Hillside work in Del Mar can need city review, especially grading and structural changes. Ask the City of Del Mar's planning and building staff before you start. Inside, water-resistant materials on lower floors, such as tile or sealed concrete, recover better from future leaks than carpet.

Sudden internal leaks, such as a burst pipe or a failed supply line, are usually homeowners claims. Seepage through walls, long-term deck leaks and repeated roof leaks may be treated as maintenance issues or excluded, depending on the policy. Surface runoff from a storm is often treated as flood. Sewer backup may need an endorsement.

Because hillside water damage often has more than one cause, good notes help. Photograph the water path, keep the contractor's moisture map and drying log, and keep any reports from plumbers, roofers or drainage contractors. The California Department of Insurance can help if you have trouble with a claim. ^[6]

In stepped hillside homes, the water heater and laundry are often on the lowest level or in a garage tucked under the house. When a tank fails or a washer hose bursts there, the water spreads across a slab or into rooms that are already the dampest in the house. If the space is finished, carpet and drywall take the water quickly.

Because these spaces sit against the hill, they also dry more slowly. Expect the contractor to use containment and dehumidifiers sized to the room and to check the uphill wall in particular. A drain pan under the water heater with a line to a drain, braided washer hoses and a leak sensor are simple ways to keep the next failure small.

Houses on the canyon rim have open space behind them, which brings views but also a slope that sheds water and debris toward the canyon and sometimes back toward the house, depending on the grading. Brush, leaves and soil can wash into side yards and window wells during heavy rain. Small animals from the canyon sometimes find their way into crawlspaces and under decks, especially if a vent screen is damaged.

After a storm, check the side and rear of the house as well as the front: window wells, crawlspace vents, the base of walls and any drains that discharge toward the canyon. If water got under a raised floor, the crawlspace needs to be inspected and dried, and torn vent screens replaced so the space stays sealed.

Many Olde Del Mar houses have been remodeled more than once. New finishes can sit on top of old ones: a new floor over an older floor, new drywall over plaster, a new bathroom over an old drain line. When water gets in, those layers trap it and hide where it went. A contractor may need to open a small inspection hole to see what is underneath before deciding whether to dry in place or remove. Ask for photos of what they find; it is useful for your records and for any future remodel.