Bare winter trees along a street of brick homes on a gray North Texas winter day

Water Damage Restoration in Denton, From the Square to the Creeks

A frozen pipe in an old bungalow, a leak in a rental near campus, creek water in a yard. Call any hour and get connected with an independent company that takes Denton calls.

Call (469) 649-7066 Denton utility numbers

Water damage restoration in Denton starts with knowing whose pipe it is

Denton is the seat of Denton County and a city of about 140,000 people that runs its own electric, water and wastewater utilities. That matters on a bad night, because the phone numbers are not the ones your friends in Dallas or Fort Worth would give you.

It is also a college town. The University of North Texas and Texas Woman's University sit inside the city limits with more than 45,000 students between them, so a lot of Denton water calls come from renters, landlords and parents trying to sort out a leak in an apartment or an older house near campus.

Water Damage Pro Dallas is a free phone line, not a restoration company. Call (469) 649-7066, describe what happened, and an automated assistant hands the call to an independent, locally owned restoration company that takes Denton calls. That company looks at the damage, gives you its own written estimate and does the work if you hire it. Mold removal calls go to an independent mold remediation company instead.

Row of older wood-frame houses with front porches under big trees on a small-town street

Denton numbers to have before the water rises

The City of Denton answers for water mains, sewer mains and, in most of the city, the power lines. Atmos Energy handles natural gas.

Utilities Dispatch: 940-349-7000

For a water main break, a leaking meter or fire hydrant, or a sewer main that is clogged or overflowing. Denton Municipal Electric power outages go to the same line. Call 911 first if anyone is in danger.

Customer Service and 311

Billing, service starts and non-emergency questions go to 940-349-8700, weekdays 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. Denton 311 takes other city requests: dial 311 from a cell or 940-349-7311 from a landline.

Gas: Atmos Energy

Atmos Energy is the natural gas utility in Denton. Smell gas? Get out of the house, and only then phone 911 and Atmos at 866-322-8667. Do not flip switches or look for the leak.

Anything that breaks past the meter, such as a split supply line, a failed water heater or a pipe in the wall, is a private repair. Close your own main shutoff, call a plumber to fix the pipe, and call a restoration company to dry the house. Those are two different jobs, and the slab leak page explains how they fit together.

Older houses near the square, and why the floor matters

West of the courthouse square, the Oak-Hickory Historic District is made up mostly of modest Craftsman bungalows and Minimal Traditional houses, with bigger homes on the south end along Oak and Hickory streets that locals call Silk Stocking Row. It is part of the larger West Denton Residential Historic District. A Denton County historical marker for one house on West Oak Street notes that its original foundation was pier and beam, set on bois d'arc stumps.

Pier and beam means the floor sits on posts above a shallow crawlspace instead of on a concrete slab. When a pipe breaks in a house like that, water can drain through the floor and pool on the soil below, where nobody sees it. Wood joists and subfloors soak it up, and a damp crawlspace can stay humid for weeks. Ask the company you reach how it will check and dry the crawlspace, not just the rooms you can stand in.

Concrete slab foundations, the usual choice for newer North Texas homes, bring their own risk. Much of North Texas sits on clay that swells when wet and shrinks when dry, and that movement can stress water lines under a slab. A leak there shows up as a warm or damp spot in the floor, a city water bill that climbs while your habits stay the same, or the sound of running water with every tap closed.

In either kind of house, the order is the same: stop the water, have a plumber fix the pipe, then dry the structure. Drying before the leak is fixed only wastes money.

Flashlight beam lighting standing water and wet soil in the crawlspace under a pier-and-beam house

Pecan Creek, Cooper Creek and the rest of Denton's floodplain

According to the city, Denton's flood hazard areas lie mainly along Cooper Creek, Pecan Creek, North Pecan Creek, Hickory Creek, Dry Fork Hickory Creek and the smaller channels that feed them. The city uses FEMA Flood Insurance Rate Maps that took effect on April 18, 2011 and June 19, 2020. You can look up an address on the city's GIS map, or view the floodplain maps at the Capital Projects and Engineering Department or any Denton Public Library.

Cooper Creek has drawn enough concern that in March 2024 the City Council took up an agreement with the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Fort Worth District, to study what causes flooding along the creek and nearby areas and how to fix it.

Water that rises from a creek or runs in off the street counts as Category 3 under the ANSI/IICRC S500 standard, the dirtiest kind. Keep yourself, kids and pets out of it.
Standard homeowner policies do not cover flood. For flooding you need its own flood policy, which the National Flood Insurance Program sells, and FEMA says a new one generally takes effect 30 days after purchase.
Photograph the water line on the walls and every damaged item before anything is moved.
Before tear-out begins, have the company list in writing what comes out of the house and the reason for each item.

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 Denton Municipal Electric at 940-349-7000 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.

What February 2021 did to Denton's water

During Winter Storm Uri, DFW Airport stayed at or below freezing for 139 hours, from the evening of February 13 to noon on February 19, according to the National Weather Service. In Denton the trouble showed up in the water system as well as the walls.

Date	What the City of Denton reported
February 17, 2021	A boil water notice after pressure fell below 20 pounds per square inch at several points in the distribution system
February 20, 2021	The notice was lifted, with advice to flush ice makers, water fountains and similar fixtures before using them for drinking or cooking

The lesson for Denton homes is simple. When a hard freeze is coming, find your main shutoff while the weather is still mild, and know which pipes run through the attic or an outside wall. When the thaw starts, a pipe that split while frozen begins to leak, often in a ceiling or behind a cabinet. Turn the water off, then call. The burst pipe page covers what that cleanup usually looks like.

Outdoor faucet on a brick wall with ice and a frozen trickle of water on a frosty winter morning

Water damage services Denton callers ask about

Each page lays out the job in plain terms and the questions worth raising before a contract.

Water Extraction and Emergency Water Removal

Standing water from a supply line, water heater or storm: what extraction equipment does, carpet and pad decisions, and why drying has to follow.

Flood Damage Restoration

Rising water from creeks, streets and the Trinity is Category 3. What flood cleanup involves, how to read a FEMA flood map, and why a home policy is not a flood policy.

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.

Mold Remediation

How a licensed Texas mold remediation runs from the assessor's protocol to clearance and the certificate, and how to judge a Dallas mold remediation company before you sign.

Rentals, landlords and student housing

If you rent, the building belongs to someone else, and so does the decision about repairs to it. You can still protect yourself and your things.

Stop the water if you can do it safely. Find the shutoff under the sink or behind the toilet, or the main shutoff, and turn it off.
Tell the landlord or manager in writing. A text or email gives you a record of the date and time.
Photograph everything. Ceilings, floors, walls and your own damaged belongings, wide and close up.
Call your renters insurer. Ask what your policy covers for your belongings and temporary housing. Texas Department of Insurance guidance draws the line between a sudden, accidental leak, which most policies cover, and a slow one, which they usually do not.
Know the limits on mold. TDLR licenses mold assessors and remediators, but it says it does not test homes and cannot make a landlord clean up mold.

Before you hire anyone for a Denton job

Will you check the crawlspace or under the slab, and how will you measure moisture there?
Which IICRC water category do you see here, and how does it change the plan?
Can I have a written estimate before work starts, and who handles the rebuild?
Who will pull the City of Denton building permit if walls, wiring or plumbing are repaired?
Is your firm listed on the IICRC Global Locator, and will your insurer send me a certificate of insurance?
If the mold patch reaches 25 contiguous square feet, will Texas rules call for a licensed mold assessment consultant plus a different licensed remediation contractor?

Homeowner reading printed contract pages at a kitchen table beside a coffee mug

The City of Denton says repairing fire or other damage requires a building permit, and the work may trigger code updates such as smoke and carbon monoxide detectors or new wiring. The Development Service Center is at 401 N. Elm St. and answers building questions at (940) 349-8600; it closes at noon on Fridays. You can look up any mold license on the TDLR license search, and the guide to checking a company goes through the rest.

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.

How a Denton call works

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.

Not sure if it is a plumbing job, a drying job or a mold job? Call and say what you see, where in the house it is, and if the leak is still running. The company you are connected with decides whether to send someone to look, and sets its own price.

Call (469) 649-7066

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

What Denton callers ask about water damage

Who do I call in Denton if a water main or meter is leaking?

The City of Denton runs its own water system. Report a main break, a leaking meter or hydrant, or a sewer main that is clogged or overflowing to Utilities Dispatch at 940-349-7000. If anyone is in danger, call 911. A leak inside your house, past the meter, is yours to stop at your own shutoff and then dry out. The 48 hour checklist walks through the next steps.

My power is out and the floor is wet. Do I call Oncor in Denton?

Inside most of the city, no. Denton Municipal Electric, the city's own utility, delivers power, and it takes outage reports through Dispatch at 940-349-7000. If your electric bill comes from another provider, call that one. Either way, stay out of water near outlets or appliances, and touch the breaker panel only while you stand on dry ground.

I rent near UNT and my landlord will not fix the leak. What can I do?

Tell the landlord in writing and keep photos and dates. Ask your renters insurer what your own policy covers for your belongings; the Texas Department of Insurance says a renters policy usually covers sudden, accidental water damage and usually not a leak that dripped for months. TDLR licenses mold companies but says it cannot make a landlord clean up mold. A call to the line can put you in touch with a restoration company, but the building owner decides on work to the building.

Is my Denton house in a floodplain?

The city says its flood hazard areas sit mainly along Cooper Creek, Pecan Creek, North Pecan Creek, Hickory Creek, Dry Fork Hickory Creek and their tributaries. Check your address on the city's GIS map or at any Denton Public Library. A standard home policy does not cover flooding, and FEMA says a new flood policy usually waits 30 days to take effect. Read flood damage restoration for what the cleanup involves.

Do I need a City of Denton permit to repair water damage?

The city says a building permit is required to repair fire or other types of damage, and that the repair may need code updates such as smoke or carbon monoxide detectors or newer wiring. Drying alone is usually not the issue; rebuilding walls, wiring or plumbing is. Ask the Development Service Center at (940) 349-8600 and ask any company you hire who pulls the permit.

Water in a Denton home or rental? Make 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.