Author name: Ryan Majewski

Ryan is the General Manager of CWF Restoration. He brings over a decade of expertise helping homeowners, property managers, and commercial clients recover from water, fire, storm, and structural damage.

Restoration technician in a protective suit and respirator extracting sewage water from a flooded basement with contaminated furniture

Ultimate Checklist for What Can Be Saved After Sewage Contamination

Resources, Services /

Why Is Sewage Contamination Classified as Category 3 Black Water? When sewer lines back up or stormwater mixes with municipal waste, the water entering your property is categorized by the Institute of Inspection, Cleaning and Restoration Certification (IICRC S500 standard) as Category 3 water, commonly known as black water. This classification is not about visual […]

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Tree roots growing through a cracked clay sewer pipe, a common cause of basement drain backups during heavy rain

Cheat Sheet to Why Your Basement Drain Backs Up When It Rains

Resources, Services /

Why Does Water Back Up Through Your Basement Drain When It Rains? Basement floor drains are designed around gravity. They sit at the lowest physical elevation in your home’s plumbing network so that routine utility runoff from water heaters, HVAC condensation lines, and laundry wash tubs can flow downward into the lateral sewer pipe and

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Fallen Tree Damage

Step-by-Step Guide to Fallen Tree Property Damage Cleanup

Storm Damage Restoration /

What Immediate Safety Steps Should You Take When a Tree Falls on Your Property? When a fallen tree damages your property, managing cleanup safely requires four immediate actions: evacuate structurally compromised living spaces, avoid downed power and gas line hazards, secure emergency roof tarps to stop water intrusion, and coordinate with your insurance carrier and

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sewer backup

The Ins and Outs of Homeowners Insurance and Sewer Backup

Sewage /

Does Standard Homeowners Insurance Cover Sewer Backup? The straightforward answer is no. Standard homeowners insurance policies—whether written on a typical HO-3 or an expanded HO-5 policy form—contain explicit exclusions for damage caused by water or sewage backing up through sewers, drains, or sump pump systems. If wastewater flows backward out of your basement floor drain,

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saving hardwood floors from flood damage

Can Water-Damaged Hardwood Floors Truly Be Saved?

Water Damage Restoration /

Can Water-Damaged Hardwood Floors Truly Be Saved? When water covers a beautiful hardwood floor, the immediate reaction is almost always panic. Most homeowners picture thousands of dollars in demolition, weeks of disruption, and piles of ruined oak tossed into a dumpster. Here is the reality based on thousands of structural drying jobs we have managed:

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smoke damaged electronics

A Practical Guide to Assessing Smoke Damage Risk to Electronics

Fire Damage Restoration /

Can Smoke Damage Electronics Even Without Direct Heat or Flame Exposure? A common misconception we run into across homes and businesses in Chicagoland is that an electronic device is safe as long as the flames never touched it. Unfortunately, smoke doesn’t respect room boundaries. Airborne smoke, acidic soot, and aerosolized chemical vapors travel rapidly through

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The Ultimate Guide to Staying in a House with Sewage Backup

Water Damage Restoration /

What Are the Immediate Health Risks of Living Near Sewage Contamination? In the vast majority of cases, you cannot safely stay in a house with a sewage backup. Raw municipal sewage—classified as Category 3 “black water”—carries human waste, toxic chemicals, heavy metals, and dangerous biological pathogens that spread quickly through touch, air, and building materials.

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basement flooding causes

A Practical Guide to Basement Flooding Causes in Chicago

Water Damage Restoration /

Why Do Chicago Basements Flood So Frequently? Chicago basements flood frequently due to a challenging combination of dense, impermeable clay soil, an aging combined sewer network, flat historical swamp geography, and intense localized cloudburst storms. When severe rain hits, saturated clay traps groundwater against foundation walls while overloaded city sewer mains surcharge, forcing water backward

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