As snow melts, home restoration companies struggle to keep up with demand

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The spring warm-up is causing headaches for property owners throughout the Twin Cities metro as the melting snow floods basements and brings further destruction. Now, restoration service companies are doing all they can to keep up with the calls for service.

Last Wednesday, snowmelt seeped into Minnetonka’s Bethlehem Lutheran Church.

“The water was almost to the hall, and at least quarter-inch to half-inch deep,” said Sue Lungstrom, the church administrator.

The floodwater forced Lungstrom to quickly move a Lent dinner event. She called Servpro to clean-up.

“It literally was like a river,” she said.

“First the ice dams, and then the rain, and now warm-up has led to an absolute overwhelming number of calls,” said Scott Clemente, owner of Servpro on Minnetonka.

He says the phone hasn't stopped ringing.

“Last weekend, we were getting 150 calls a day,” said Clemente. “The last couple of days we’ve had probably an average 30 to 50 calls … we have a backlog, so we’ve brought in teams from out of state.”

Clemente says he’s called in crews all the way from California, New Hampshire and Texas to deal with the onslaught of flooded local homes within days rather than weeks. He says he has never experienced such a need for service.

Other local restoration companies say they were also flooded with hundreds of calls. One shop’s owner says they’re getting caught up, while another company says they have at least a week’s backlog worth of mold issues.

As for Lungstrom, the water issues at her church have been fixed. 

“I just feel lucky and grateful that they took us in right away, and able to go on with our church evening,” she said.