Water Damage Restoration in Mound, MN

What did the 2014 high water on Lake Minnetonka mean for a peninsula city?

On June 23, 2014, Lake Minnetonka reached a record level of 931.11 feet, more than seven inches above the previous record, according to the Minnehaha Creek Watershed District. The Gray's Bay Dam could not control the lake for 83 consecutive days, a lakewide wake restriction followed, and basements flooded and roads went under around the lake. We did not find figures for damage in Mound itself, so we say nothing about how many homes were hit here.

What the record does show is how a lake-edge city behaves in a wet year. When the lake rises, the water table in the ground around it rises too, and a basement that was dry for years can start to seep through the floor joint or a wall crack. A sump pump that normally cycles now and then may run constantly. That is why a peninsula home should treat its pump as essential equipment, with a battery backup or a plan for a power cut.

Rising lake water is flood, not rain, and Minnesota Commerce guidance says standard homeowners policies do not cover flood. A separate flood policy carries a 30-day waiting period, so a lakeshore owner who waits for the lake to rise is already late. Our guide to Lake Minnetonka high water and flood insurance goes through the question in more detail.

Why do converted cottages in Mound have more winter pipe trouble?

A lake cottage that started as a summer place often has thin walls, little insulation, a shallow crawl space and supply lines run where a summer-only building never needed them to survive. When such a building becomes a year-round home, those lines meet the first real cold. Older conversions may have uninsulated pipes and shallow crawl spaces, which raise the freeze-and-thaw leak risk in winter. This is a general pattern, not something we verified house by house.

Burst pipes often do not show themselves in the freeze. A split pipe stays plugged with ice, and the water arrives when the temperature climbs. After a February 2019 cold spell, calls came mostly on thaw, according to MPR News. So the days after a cold snap are the days to walk the crawl space and look at the walls on the north side. Details on that situation are on the frozen pipe water damage page.

If you leave a Mound house for a winter week, keep the heat on. Insurer guides often suggest a setpoint around 55 degrees Fahrenheit, but check your own policy. Minnesota Commerce tips relayed in a 2019 newsletter say a frozen-pipe claim can be denied if the house was unoccupied without heat. That is a reason to ask for a house check, and to open cabinet doors on exterior walls during a hard freeze.

What should a lakeside homeowner do when the lower level takes on water?

Start with the source. If the water is coming from a pipe or appliance, shut it off. If it is seeping up from the ground or through a wall, the cause is the lake and the soil, and the job is to get the water out and the structure dry while the outside conditions are still wet. A crew uses submersible pumps and extractors to remove standing water, then air movers and dehumidifiers to dry the framing. See emergency water removal.

Lake or groundwater that has been in a house for a while is not clean. Porous materials such as carpet, pad and low drywall that were soaked are usually removed rather than saved, and the removal is part of the scope, not an upsell. Ask for a written scope and for moisture readings taken at the start and at the end.

Do not wait on the lake. Even when the level falls, damp framing in a cool, closed lower level stays damp. Mold can start growing in the first few days when materials stay wet, so the faster the drying begins, the smaller the job. For the clean-up of a larger event, see flood damage cleanup.

Getting help on the peninsula and what we leave out

Mound is toward the west end of our service area. Plymouth Water Damage Restoration answers phones 24/7 and a crew is dispatched as fast as one is available. We do not promise an arrival time, and we do not promise how an insurer will respond. When you call, give the dispatcher your address, the floor that is wet, and whether water is still entering.

We chose not to print a lake-level forecast, a floodplain elevation for Mound or any figure for Mound-specific damage in 2014, because our research did not source them. If the water you are dealing with came from the lake, ask the city and your insurance agent about your property's status.