One-story brick ranch home beside a large oak tree on an open lot

Water Damage Restoration in Cedar Hill, on the Hills Above Joe Pool Lake

Water on the floor and nobody at City Hall? Close your own cut-off valve, then call any hour to reach an independent restoration company that takes Cedar Hill calls.

Call (469) 649-7066 Find your shutoff first

In Cedar Hill, the shutoff valve is your job

Before anything else, know this about Cedar Hill: the city expects you to turn off your own water. Its utility page says residents and business owners should know how to use their personal cut-off, and that city staff help with emergency cutoffs only on an on-call basis, if resources permit, from 5 to 9 p.m. on weekdays and 9 a.m. to noon on Saturdays.

So a pipe that splits at 2 a.m. is a race between you and the water. Find the valve now, on a dry afternoon. Many homes have one near an outside faucet close to the house or in the box with the meter. Make sure it turns. If it is stuck or broken, a plumber can replace it before you need it.

The city owns the system up to and including the meter. Past that point, toward the house, every pipe is the owner's. Utility Services takes questions at 469-272-2931.

Hand turning the main water shutoff valve inside a ground-level meter box

Water damage restoration in Cedar Hill, one call away

Once the water is off, call Water Damage Pro Dallas at (469) 649-7066. The line is free and does no restoration work itself. Its automated assistant picks up day or night, notes the problem and passes you to an independent, locally owned restoration company that covers Cedar Hill. That company inspects the house, measures the moisture, puts its estimate in writing and does the drying and repair if you hire it. If the problem is mold, the call goes to an independent mold remediation company instead.

Burst Pipe Water Damage

Frozen and failed pipes in attics, outside walls and garages. Shut the water off, call a plumber for the pipe and a restoration company for the drying.

Slab Leak Water Damage

A leak under the foundation needs two trades: a licensed plumber finds and repairs the pipe, and a restoration company dries the floors and walls it soaked.

Ceiling Water Damage

A brown ring, a bubble in the paint or a ceiling that has started to sag. What each sign means, how to stay safe under it and how a company decides to dry or replace.

A hill town on two counties and a lake

Dallas and Ellis counties

Cedar Hill sits mostly in Dallas County and reaches south into Ellis County. It is one of the Best Southwest cities, with DeSoto, Duncanville and Lancaster, and had 49,148 residents in the 2020 census.

The western edge and Joe Pool Lake

On the west side, mostly the Lake Ridge neighborhood, the land drops below a limestone uplift onto the shale around Joe Pool Lake, which Cedar Hill shares with Dallas, Grand Prairie, Mansfield and Midlothian.

What 2015 did at Joe Pool Lake

The spring of 2015 was the last time the lake made big news. NBC DFW reported in late May that flooding had pushed Joe Pool Lake more than 12 feet above normal, and the Corps of Engineers closed parks around it for the summer, including parts of Cedar Hill State Park. In July the Dallas Morning News reported that a water line break, caused by soil shifting after the flooding, had closed the state park for at least a month. KERA noted years later that the flood left major shoreline erosion at the park, and that a renovation since then has added new roads, utilities and a shoreline trail.

Two lessons carry over to homes. Water that rises from a lake, a creek or a street is Category 3 under the ANSI/IICRC S500 standard, the most contaminated kind, so stay out of it. And soil that soaks and then dries can move, which is hard on buried pipes, including the line from your meter to the house.

Cedar Hill's history has its own warning about storms, too. On April 29, 1856, a tornado killed nine people and destroyed most of the buildings in what was then a small settlement.

Two-story stone and brick home on a grassy slope near a neighborhood pond

Safety first. Shut off the main water valve if you can get to it without risk. Water and electricity together are the real hazard, so stay out of any puddle that touches an outlet, a cord or an appliance. Switch off the breaker only when the panel can be reached from dry flooring; if it cannot, call Oncor or an electrician. A gas smell means everyone goes outside, and the calls to 911 and Atmos Energy are made from there. Floodwater and sewage are not safe to wade through, for adults, children or pets. Once everyone is safe, take photos for the insurance claim and carry valuables and documents to a dry room.

Permits and questions before work starts

Cedar Hill's Building Inspections handout says a permit is needed to construct, alter or repair a building. Finish work such as painting, wallpaper and cabinets is exempt. A homeowner who owns and lives in the house can get a permit for their own work, but plumbing, electrical, mechanical and irrigation work must be done by a State of Texas licensed contractor. Building Inspections answers at (972) 291-5100, extension 1090.

Is the leak fixed? Who fixed it, and is it on my side of the meter?
What water category is this, and which materials have to come out?
Can I see the estimate on paper, plus the moisture readings for each day of drying?
Who pulls the Cedar Hill permit for the rebuild, and which licensed plumber or electrician will do that part?
Is the firm on the IICRC Global Locator, and can its insurer send me a certificate of insurance?

Garage with water on the concrete floor, a water heater in the corner and the door open to the street

Ask your insurer, not the contractor. Guidance from the Texas Department of Insurance separates water that shows up suddenly and by accident, like a split pipe, an overflowing toilet or a failed washer hose, which most home and renter policies include, from slow leaks and seepage, which they usually leave out. Flooding is excluded from home policies altogether and needs a separate flood policy. Insurers can also refuse a claim when the owner did not take reasonable steps to limit further damage. Before you sign for any work, pull out your policy and call the insurer about what it includes. More on water damage and insurance.

Call the numberAn automated assistant answers (469) 649-7066 at any hour and asks what you need help with. The same number answers other home service calls too, so start with "water damage" or "mold".
Describe what happenedA burst pipe, standing water, a wet ceiling, a slab leak, a sewage backup or mold, plus your town and whether water is still coming in.
Get transferredWater damage calls go to an independent, locally owned DFW restoration company; mold removal calls go to an independent mold remediation company. Each hears a short summary before it picks up. Mold testing calls are taken as a message for now.
Deal with that company directlyIt inspects, quotes and does the work, and you pay it (or your insurer does, as you arrange). If it cannot answer, it gets your name, number, city and problem so it can call you back.

About this line: Water Damage Pro Dallas is a free phone line, not a restoration or mold company. It answers your call and connects you with an independent local company, which inspects, quotes and does the work, and which you pay directly. Companies may pay a referral fee. Calling the line costs you nothing. See how a call is handled.

More pages that may help

Other DFW towns the line covers

Cedar Hill water damage questions

Will the City of Cedar Hill come shut off my water at night?

Do not count on it. The city says residents are expected to know how to turn water off with their own cut-off valve. On-call staff may help with emergency cutoffs from 5 to 9 p.m. on non-holiday weekdays and 9 a.m. to noon on Saturdays, if resources permit; the city lists 972-780-6643 for those hours. Outside them, the valve is up to you. Call 911 if water threatens wiring or anyone's safety.

Is the leak my problem or the city's in Cedar Hill?

It depends on which side of the meter it is on. The city owns and maintains its system up to and including the water meter. From the meter and service line connection toward the house, the pipe is yours. A leak in the yard line, under the slab or inside a wall is a private repair: a plumber fixes it, and then a restoration company takes over the drying. See slab leak water damage.

Does fixing water damage in Cedar Hill need a permit?

Often, yes. The city's Building Inspections handout says repairing a building needs a permit, while painting, wallpaper, cabinets and similar finish work do not. Plumbing, electrical and mechanical work must be done by a State of Texas licensed contractor. Questions go to Building Inspections at (972) 291-5100, extension 1090. Ask the company you hire who pulls the permit.

My Cedar Hill house is up on a hill. Can it still flood?

Yes. High ground keeps creek water away, but runoff from a heavy storm can still push under doors or into a garage, and most water damage comes from inside: pipes, water heaters, toilets and appliances. A standard home policy does not cover flood, so ask your insurer what yours covers. Read flood damage restoration if outside water got in.

Water damage in Cedar Hill? One free call

Say what happened and which town you are in. The automated assistant passes a water damage call to an independent, locally owned DFW restoration company, and a mold removal call to an independent mold remediation company. That company comes out, sees the damage and prices the work itself.

Call (469) 649-7066

Answers day or nightPipes burst at 3 a.m. and storms roll in after dark. The assistant picks up at any hour, every day of the year.
Free to callThe line never bills you. Any price comes from the company you are connected with, and you can ask for it in writing.
Mold testing is separateTexas keeps the mold assessor and the remediator on one job apart, so testing calls are taken as a message.
You decideHear what the company found, read its estimate, ask your insurer your questions, and say yes only when it makes sense.