Water Damage Restoration in Hopkins, MN
Two creeks run through Hopkins. Minnehaha Creek flows past Cottageville Park, and the north branch of Nine Mile Creek starts in Hopkins and runs through Valley Park.
Most water damage calls start inside, with a pipe, a hose or an appliance. Still, 2014 showed what the creek can do. Kiser Construction handles water damage restoration in Hopkins 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. We’re an IICRC certified firm with mold remediation in house, and we’ve been doing this work since 2003. In a city where most homes share walls, floors and ceilings, we trace water unit by unit.
This page covers the creek, the condos and what happens when you call.
What water damage restoration covers
Water damage restoration is everything from stopping the leak to the finished room. It includes extraction, drying, removing materials that can’t be saved, treating mold and rebuilding.
In a multi-unit building, it also means finding every unit the water reached. Water moves down through ceilings and floors, and it doesn’t stop at the unit line.
What 2014 showed along Minnehaha Creek
The first half of 2014 was the wettest in the Twin Cities since records began in 1871. The Minnehaha Creek Watershed District reports that for 83 days straight, the Gray’s Bay Dam couldn’t control water levels on Lake Minnetonka or the creek. Minnehaha Creek hit a record flow of 889 cubic feet per second.
Lower levels near the creek
Older homes near the creek often have lower levels that were finished long after the house was built. Paneling, carpet and drywall over concrete hold water, and they need to be opened up and dried, not just vacuumed.
What it meant downstream
Downstream that June, the creek hit its highest level on record, and neighbors in St. Louis Park’s Creekside neighborhood stacked sandbags to keep water out of their homes.
If you live near either creek
Know where water would enter your lower level. Walk the outside after heavy rain and look for pooling near window wells and doors. Water from outside and water from a pipe are often treated differently by insurance, so photos of where it came in matter.
Water damage in Hopkins apartments and condos
About 60 percent of Hopkins homes are in buildings with five or more units, based on Metropolitan Council figures the city presented in 2022. That includes Meadow Creek Condominiums, which the city calls the largest condominium association in Minnesota.
Water doesn’t respect unit lines
A washing machine hose that fails on the third floor shows up in the second-floor ceiling and the first-floor closet. By the time a neighbor notices, water may have been running for hours.
How we handle a multi-unit leak
We trace the water from the source unit down. We check every unit it reached and document each one. Managers and associations get one scope for the building, and each unit’s damage is shown on its own.
If you rent
Report a leak to your owner or manager right away. Hopkins asks tenants to put maintenance requests in writing and keep a copy.
Signs a leak is coming from another unit
Our 10 telltale signs of water damage covers the general warning signs. In a condo or apartment, a few signs point to a leak that started somewhere else.
A ceiling stain with nothing above it in your unit
If there’s no bathroom, kitchen or laundry above the stain in your own unit, the water is almost certainly coming from the unit above.
Stains that line up with a neighbor’s laundry or bath
Stacked buildings put bathrooms and laundry rooms on top of each other. A stain in the same spot on two floors points to a leak higher up.
Water along a shared wall
Damp baseboards or bubbling paint on a wall you share with the next unit can mean a leak inside that wall or next door.
How the work goes, step by step
Here’s the order we work in. You get a written scope before demolition starts.
1. Find and stop the source
In multi-unit buildings, that means finding the right unit first.
2. Extract and dry
We remove standing water, set drying equipment and take moisture readings every day.
3. Remove, treat and rebuild
Wet drywall, insulation and carpet pad that won’t dry come out. We handle mold remediation in house with the same crew. Then drywall, trim, flooring and paint go back in. For a split supply line or a pipe that froze, our burst pipe cleanup page covers the details. For a washer, dishwasher or water heater, see appliance leak water damage.
Why Hopkins owners and managers call Kiser
We’re an IICRC certified firm and a licensed Minnesota contractor (BC416441). We work with homeowners, property managers and associations. One project manager keeps everyone updated, and the schedule is in our customer portal. A commercial customer wrote in their review that they stayed open during the entire job.
What water damage repair costs
Cost depends on how much got wet, how long it sat and how many units were affected. One wet bathroom floor is a small job. Water through three floors of an apartment building is a large one.
The main factors are square footage, the number of units, whether the water was clean or dirty, and how much has to be rebuilt.
Damage inspections are free. We work on 50/50 payment terms, and every job carries a one-year warranty from the completion date.
What to do right after a leak in a multi-unit building
Tell the neighbors below. The unit under you may already be wet.
Call your owner, manager or association, then call us.
Don’t assume it stopped at your floor. Water keeps traveling down through ceilings and walls after the source is shut off.
For general first steps, like shutting off the water and moving valuables, see what to do after water damage.
Serving Hopkins
We cover Hopkins as part of our Minnetonka and Excelsior service area, next to St. Louis Park and Edina.
We serve condo buildings like Meadow Creek near 11th Avenue South and Smetana Road. We serve the townhomes of Westbrooke Patio Homes in southern Hopkins and the villa homes of Nine Mile Cove near Highway 169 and Lincoln Drive. We also serve the homes and apartments along the Blake Road corridor, where Minnehaha Creek runs through Cottageville Park.
The buildings are different, but the job is the same: find every wet spot and dry it right. In a condo or townhome, that often means working with the association as well as the owner, and we keep both updated.
If you’re a manager or board member, we can walk the building with you on the first visit and show you every unit we’re checking.
Call the same emergency number from any building in Hopkins, day or night, and a real person will answer.
Common questions
Yes. A person answers our emergency line at (612) 518-8852 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, including holidays.
Tell the owner or manager right away, in writing if you can. If you’re the owner or manager, call us. We find the source unit, stop the water and check every unit it reached.
Yes. We document each affected unit separately and give the manager or association one written scope for the building.
We handle mold remediation in house. The same crew that dries the building treats the mold.
Yes. There’s no charge to inspect the damage and write up a scope.
Yes. We’re a licensed Minnesota contractor (BC416441), so drywall, trim, flooring and paint go back in with the same company.
That depends on your association documents and each owner’s policy, and it’s a question for your adjusters. What we do is document where the water started and every unit it reached, so they have the facts to decide.
Call us
In Hopkins, where most homes share walls and floors, one leak can reach three units before anyone notices. Kiser Construction finds every wet spot, documents each unit and dries the building right, with mold handled in house. For water damage restoration in Hopkins, call (612) 518-8852 any time. A real person answers 24/7, including holidays. For a free inspection and a written scope, call our office at (763) 633-2010. You’ll see the full plan, unit by unit, before any demolition starts.