Chatham sits at the elbow of the Cape, with the Atlantic on one side, Nantucket Sound on the other, and Pleasant Bay behind. The village center holds sea captains' houses from the 1700s and 1800s and shingled summer houses from the early 1900s. Shore Road, Morris Island, and the streets around Oyster Pond hold newer houses on old low lots, and many of them are seasonal. The barrier beach that protects the town has broken open in 1987, 2007, and again since.
When the beach breaks, the ocean reaches the houses. The nor'easter of January 4, 2018 breached the barrier beach at Morris Island and put four feet of water on Starfish Lane, and boats had to bring people out. Pleasant Bay and Oyster Pond back up on every big tide since. In winter the closed-up houses freeze, and the December 2022 and February 2023 cold snaps burst pipes that nobody found until spring.
We connect Chatham homeowners with an independent local water damage provider by phone. You describe the problem, and the provider decides what to look at first.
Salt water in a first floor on Morris Island or Shore Road after a breach is flood cleanup, and sand comes in with it. A frozen line in a summer house on the bay is frozen pipe cleanup, scoped around how long the water ran. Wind-driven rain under the shingles of an old roof is roof leak water damage.
Rebuild permits come from the Town of Chatham building department, and a house in one of the town's historic districts also goes to the historic commission. Anything within the coastal flood zone also goes to the conservation commission before a rebuild, and that covers much of the shore.
Call (508) 419-9161 now and tell us what you see. A local water damage provider serving Chatham takes it from there.
Standing water pumped out of a cottage, ranch, or motel room, then the first meter readings to see how far it traveled.
Air movers and dehumidifiers run by the readings until subfloor, framing, and plaster come back to their dry target in damp salt air.
Bay water, storm surge, and street runoff pumped out after a nor'easter, with soaked material removed and the rest dried.
Cleanup after a supply line froze and split in a second home or an unheated wall, then drying what the thaw soaked for days.
Standing water pumped from under a Cape or cottage on a high water table, then joists and subfloor checked and dried.
Wet insulation, ceilings, and walls dried out after wind-driven rain, an ice dam, or lifted shingles let a storm in.
A Mid-Cape basement pumped out after seepage, a sump failure, or a burst pipe, with finished walls and flooring metered and dried.
Furniture, rugs, papers, and keepsakes from a wet home sorted, dried, cleaned, and listed so you know what was saved.