Water Damage Restoration in Kannapolis, NC

Twenty to Twenty-Five Minutes East to Kannapolis

Kannapolis sits east of Davidson in Cabarrus County, with its northern edge reaching into Rowan County. Crews head east on NC-73 and north on Kannapolis Parkway for the west side and downtown, or use I-85 and Cannon Boulevard (US-29) for the east side. Most addresses are 20 to 25 minutes out.

Call (831) 303-1192 at any hour and a person sends the nearest available crew, with an honest estimate for the distance. That estimate also depends on other emergencies underway, traffic, weather and access to the house.

The city runs its own water and sewer through the Kannapolis Water Resources Department, and the city's water and sewer page lists a 24-hour Public Works line for problems in the street. The service line and sewer lateral on your lot are generally the owner's, so ask the city where its part ends before a plumber digs.

Tell the dispatcher about the house

• Which drain overflowed first, and whether a plumber has cleared it.
• Whether water got under the house, and where the crawl space hatch is.
• Plaster or drywall walls; wood, vinyl or carpet floors.
• Roughly when the house was built.
• For a rental, who can approve the work.

Mill Houses, Old Drain Lines and Low Crawl Spaces

Kannapolis began in 1906, when J.W. Cannon bought the land for his towel and sheet mills. Work on the first 50 houses started in 1907, and the village passed 800 houses by 1920, mostly four-room homes on deep, narrow lots. The city now has about 53,100 people, and many mill-era houses are still lived in.

What makes these houses different

• Old sewer laterals. Cast iron and clay pipe cracks with age and lets tree roots in, so drains back up into tubs and floors. That is sewage cleanup work.
• Aging supply lines in crawl spaces a foot or two high, where a slow leak runs unseen. That calls for burst pipe and appliance leak cleanup.
• Plaster and old wood walls and floors, which dry differently from drywall and carpet.
• Small older kitchens, where a stovetop fire leaves smoke and firefighting water in the same rooms, a job for fire and smoke damage restoration.
• Pre-1978 paint, which may contain lead, so cutting and sanding follow lead-safe practices.

Freeze and summer humidity

The December 2022 cold snap burst pipes across the Charlotte area, and pipes in shallow, drafty crawl spaces are among the most exposed; see our article on frozen pipes in the Charlotte area. In summer the same crawl spaces sit in humid air over red clay, where mold starts on joists and needs mold remediation.

Old floors and trim: dry them before deciding

Original pine or oak boards over a crawl space can often be dried from above and below at once: mats and air movers on top, a dehumidifier on the subfloor underneath. Ask for readings against a room that stayed dry before any board is pulled. Trim should be pried off and numbered to go back up, and the written replacement scope should list only what will not dry.

West Avenue, Cannon Boulevard and the Rest of Kannapolis

Kannapolis uses ZIP codes 28081 and 28083, and crews cover both, from the mill-era streets near downtown to the newer edges of town:

• Downtown and West Avenue, rebuilt as a walkable district with a linear park, shops and restaurants.
• Atrium Health Ballpark, home of the Kannapolis Cannon Ballers, and the restored Gem Theatre.
• The North Carolina Research Campus, the 350-acre research center that replaced the old Cannon mill.
• Village Park, with its double-decker carousel, and Bakers Creek Park at the Bakers Creek Greenway trailhead.
• Cannon Boulevard (US-29) and I-85 on the east side.

Homes, rentals and businesses

Owner-occupied houses, rentals and Downtown Kannapolis shops and restaurants are all covered. On a rental, the owner or property manager approves the written scope and price, and the tenant is told when crews will be inside.