Walked downstairs to water over the carpet? A flooded basement is the most common water call in Bergen County, and the first hours decide what in that finished space can be saved.
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Undercroft Restoration is a free referral service, not a restoration company. Calls are connected to independent local service providers that serve your area, and calls may be recorded. The work is done by those providers, not by this site.
A sump pump sits in a pit in the lowest corner of the basement and pushes groundwater out before it reaches the floor. Most days you forget it's there. Then a storm dumps inches of rain on saturated ground, the pit fills faster than usual, and the one day the pump has to work is the day it doesn't.
Here's how it usually goes wrong.
No power, no pump. The storms that flood basements are often the same ones that take down power lines. After Sandy in 2012, NJ DEP and Rutgers researchers found that pump stations lost power and flooding in some upland areas lasted five days or more. At home, the fix is a battery backup or a water-powered backup pump, covered on the sump pump page.
The float switch tells the pump when to turn on. If it hangs up on the pit wall or a cord, the pump never starts. Motors that have run hard for years burn out, often in the middle of the storm that finally overworks them. If your pump hums but doesn't move water, or cycles on and off constantly, it's telling you something.
In January and February, the pipe that carries water away from the house can freeze solid where it exits the wall. The pump runs, but the water has nowhere to go and flows back into the pit. Leaves and ice at the outlet do the same.
Water on the basement floor right now? Call (201) 409-9820. Calls answered 24/7. You're under no obligation to book.
Call (201) 409-9820On July 27 and 28, 2026, two days of heavy rain soaked eastern Bergen County. The NJ Weather Network's July recap recorded 6.06 inches in River Edge and reported "several feet of water in some basements in Bergenfield." New Milford's fire department answered more than 20 stranded-vehicle calls. Basement flooding from rain like that comes in three main ways.
The joint where the basement floor meets the foundation wall is the weakest spot. When the ground outside fills with water, it pushes in there first. If water is coming up along the walls and no pipe is broken, that's groundwater.
A basement window well is a hole in the ground next to your house. If its drain is clogged or it has no cover, heavy rain fills it until the water pours through the window. Water that came in only below a window usually points here.
If water comes up through the floor drain, it may not be rainwater at all. It may be a sewer backup, which is Category 3 contaminated water. Stay out of it and see sewage cleanup.
The basement is where the electric panel, the furnace, the water heater and the washer usually live, which makes it the most dangerous room in the house when it's full of water.
Utility phone numbers and more detail are on the emergency water removal page.
Here's what a proper cleanup looks like, step by step.
This surprises people. FEMA advises pumping deep basement water out gradually, about one-third of the water per day, because saturated soil outside is pushing on the walls. Pull all the water out at once and that outside pressure can crack or push in a foundation wall. It matters here: about 36 percent of Hackensack homes were built between 1940 and 1969, many on concrete block. If the water came from a burst pipe and the ground outside is dry, the crew can pump it out faster.
Once the deep water is down, basement water removal moves to the materials: wet carpet and pad come out, and drywall is cut a set height above the waterline so the wall cavity can dry.
Clean groundwater that seeped through a wall is one thing. Storm water that ran across a yard or a street is another, and sewer water is the worst. Surfaces touched by storm water or sewage get cleaned and disinfected before drying.
Concrete slabs and block walls hold a lot of water and give it up slowly. Expect dehumidifiers and air movers for several days, with daily readings. The drying process is on the water mitigation page.
When Ida hit in 2021, some basements took sewer water as well as rain. In Bergen County the basement is often the den, the kids' family room, the home office, the workout area, sometimes a bedroom. That's why basement water damage costs people more than a damp storage room would.
Solid wood furniture that's dried quickly. Framing and studs, once dried and checked. Ceramic tile floors. Concrete. Metal shelving. Items in plastic bins that stayed sealed.
Wall-to-wall carpet and pad. Fiberglass insulation. Particleboard furniture and cabinets, which swell and fall apart. Drywall soaked above a few inches. Anything cardboard. Upholstered furniture that sat in storm water or sewage.
When you rebuild, choose materials that shrug off water: tile or waterproof vinyl plank instead of carpet, closed-cell foam insulation, and a small gap between the bottom of the drywall and the floor, hidden by a vinyl baseboard. The rebuild side is on the water damage repair page.
This is the part people find out too late. What follows is general information; your policy wording decides. See the insurance claims help page for more.
As The Hanover explains, homeowners insurance doesn't typically cover water backup damage; it's optional coverage that has to be added on. That includes water that overflows from a sump pit when the pump fails. Without the endorsement, a failed sump is often your loss.
If you do have the endorsement, it usually carries its own limit, separate from the rest of your policy, and it's often small compared with the cost of a finished basement. Look up yours before storm season, not after.
Flood insurance through the NFIP treats basements differently. FEMA's basement fact sheet lists covered building items such as furnaces, water heaters, electrical boxes, sump pumps and cleanup expenses. Finished flooring, carpet, painted walls, cabinets and most contents stored down there aren't covered. Groundwater that seeps in without an actual flood event can fall between both policies.
Water that comes back every heavy rain isn't bad luck. It's the ground around your house holding water and pushing it in. Cleaning up again and again won't change that. The long-term fixes are basement waterproofing, interior or exterior french drains, and a properly sized sump pump with a backup.
After a storm like Ida in 2021, a callback promised that night can take days to come. On a big storm night, every company is swamped. The ones that answer, tell you honestly what they can do, and then follow through are the ones to hire.
Undercroft Restoration is a referral service. When you call (201) 409-9820, you're connected with an independent, third-party restoration company that serves your area. That company does the pumping, tear-out and drying. Undercroft Restoration doesn't do the work, set prices or promise arrival times. For how the line works across every service, see the home page.
About this example. Undercroft Restoration connects callers with independent companies and doesn't publish their customers' jobs. This is an illustrative example, not a record of a real job. It's set during a real event: the January 9 to 10, 2024 storm, when CBS New York reported the Saddle River cresting around 10 feet in Lodi, thousands of PSE&G customers without power, and a Rochelle Park homeowner saying, "Three times already I lost the basement."
A 1950s house in Bergen County with a finished basement: carpet, a sectional, the kids' playroom. Heavy rain falls all evening on ground already wet from earlier storms. Around midnight the wind takes the power out. The sump pump stops, and there's no battery backup.
By morning there are six inches of water across the carpet. The owner doesn't go down; the panel is on the far wall. The utility shuts off power to the house.
The ground outside is soaked, so the crew pumps the water down in stages rather than all at once. Carpet, pad and the bottom two feet of drywall come out, along with the fiberglass insulation behind it. The playroom's particleboard shelves go too. The sectional, which sat in groundwater, is dried and cleaned.
Dehumidifiers run five days on the slab and block walls. The owner's policy has no water backup endorsement, so most of it is out of pocket. The rebuild uses vinyl plank, closed-cell insulation and a battery backup on the new pump.
The lesson: check your endorsement and your backup pump before storm season.
Stop groundwater at the source: basement waterproofing.
Replacement pumps and battery backups: sump pump.
If growth started on walls or framing: basement mold.
Category 3 water needs protection and disinfection: sewage cleanup.
Calls come from Hackensack's Fairmount section and the Johnson Avenue area, from Teaneck across the river, and from River Edge, where the July 2026 storm dropped more than six inches of rain. More on water damage in Hackensack and the full Bergen County service area.
Calls from Paramus, Maywood, Lodi, Little Ferry, Bogota and Fort Lee are connected the same way.
Calls answered 24/7. For basement water cleanup in Bergen County: have your town and what happened ready when you call.
Undercroft Restoration is a free referral service, not a restoration company. Calls are connected to independent local service providers that serve your area, and calls may be recorded. The work is done by those providers, not by this site.
Calls answered 24/7. Pick the number for your problem, then say your town and what happened.
First, make sure it's safe: stay away if water is near the electric panel or could be sewage. Then call a restoration company to pump out, remove wet materials and dry the space. If the water came from a broken pipe, call a plumber too. In Bergen County, calls to (201) 409-9820 are connected with a cleanup company that serves your town.
The EPA says wet materials should be dried within 24 to 48 hours to prevent mold. The sooner pumping starts, the more of the finished space can be saved.
Not if the ground outside is saturated. FEMA advises pumping about one-third of the water per day so pressure from the wet soil doesn't damage the walls. If the water came from inside and the ground is dry, it can come out faster.
Not until it's inspected. Gas appliances that sat in water can have damaged controls and create a carbon monoxide risk. PSE&G says a licensed plumber, qualified contractor or PSE&G should check them before they run again.
Usually only if you added a water backup or sump overflow endorsement, and then only up to that endorsement's limit. A standard policy often excludes it. Check your declarations page.
How deep the water got, whether the basement is finished, what kind of water it was, how many square feet are wet, and how much debris has to be hauled away. Call (201) 409-9820 and ask for a written scope before any work starts.
Yes. Basements are cool and humid, and mold can start on wet drywall, paneling and carpet within a couple of days. If you smell it or see spots, see basement mold.
If the water came from groundwater or a failed sump, probably, unless something changes. A backup pump, drainage or waterproofing is what breaks the cycle. See basement waterproofing.
Usually, yes, if the water was clean and the power upstairs is safe. Not if it's sewage, if the power has to be off, or if a gas appliance is out of service in cold weather.
Then it's Category 3 contaminated water. Stay out, keep kids and pets away, and don't use a shop vac. Tell the operator when you call (201) 409-9820. See sewage cleanup.