In depth
Storm Damage Restoration in Brisbane: how the job actually runs.
Brisbane’s storm season runs November to March, and the water damage it leaves behind is different from a burst pipe. It comes from the top down, it arrives with wind and hail, it often brings the street with it, and after a big cell it hits hundreds of homes at once. Storm damage restoration is the drying and cleanup side of that — what happens after the roofer has closed the hole and the SES has moved on to the next street.
What storm damage restoration involves
Make-safe. Water-loaded ceilings are drained and propped. Circuits where water reached fittings stay isolated. Broken glass and debris are cleared from wet areas. If the roof is still open, drying waits for the tarp, but assessment and extraction do not.
Tracing the water. Storm water enters at the roof, a gutter or a window and travels down through insulation, ceiling plaster, wall cavities and bottom plates before it shows on the floor. We meter each of those layers and use a thermal camera to follow the path. The wet area is always bigger than the stain.
Extraction and removal. Standing rainwater is extracted. Wet insulation batts are removed — they do not dry and they hold water against the ceiling frame for weeks. Sagging plasterboard comes down. Where stormwater surged in from outside, it is treated as Category 3 and carpet and underlay it touched are removed.
Structural drying. Air movers and LGR dehumidifiers dry the ceiling frame, wall cavities and floors, with readings logged daily. Ceiling cavities are often the slowest part because they are enclosed and hot.
Reinstatement. Once dry, ceilings, gyprock, insulation and underlay are replaced to the approved scope.
Storm versus flood: the distinction that decides your claim
| Water source | Insurance classification | Usually covered? |
|---|---|---|
| Rain through damaged roof or window | Storm | Yes, standard policies |
| Hail damage and resulting water entry | Storm | Yes |
| Gutters and downpipes overflowing into walls | Storm | Usually, unless neglected maintenance |
| Run-off crossing your yard before any waterway | Storm (stormwater run-off) | Generally yes |
| Water rising from a creek, river or stormwater channel | Flood | Only with flood cover |
Since 2012 every Australian insurer uses the same flood definition. The question that decides borderline claims is the path of the water, and that is why our reports document the entry point, the route and the high-water mark before anything is touched.
The first hours after the storm
- Stay out from under sagging ceilings. Move furniture, close the door, and do not pierce the plaster.
- Power off to rooms where water reached fittings or points.
- Roof open? Call the SES on 132 500 for tarping, and a roofer for the permanent fix. Stay off the roof yourself.
- Photograph the entry point, the water and the hail if there was any. The date and time matter.
- Buckets, towels, rugs up. Get what you can off wet carpet.
- Call us so drying starts as soon as the roof is closed.
Why storm damage drying takes as long as it does
Ceiling cavities are the problem. They are enclosed, they run hot under a Brisbane roof, and wet insulation sits directly on the plasterboard. Left alone, the cavity stays humid for weeks and mould establishes on the plaster and the timber within days. The IICRC S500 approach is to open the cavity — remove the wet batts, take down saturated board — and then dry the frame with air movement and dehumidification until pin readings on the timber are back below 18 per cent. Wall cavities behind gyprock are dried the same way, often through skirting removed at floor level.
Three to seven days is typical. Homes that waited a fortnight for attention after a major event are usually looking at mould treatment as well.
Brisbane, Ipswich and Logan in storm season
The northside and west — The Gap, Kenmore, Aspley, Chermside — sit under the path of afternoon cells coming off the ranges, and the older tile roofs there shed tiles in hail and wind. Kedron Brook, Enoggera Creek and Moggill Creek flash flood in the same storms.
The southside — Holland Park, Carindale, Mount Gravatt — has a lot of 1970s–80s brick-and-tile with box gutters, which overflow into the eaves when downpipes block. Bulimba and Norman Creeks come up fast.
Redcliffe and the bayside take the wind side of every system, with storm surge on top, and the older fibro and timber housing stock lets water in at every joint.
Ipswich and Logan estates — Springfield Lakes, Redbank Plains, Beenleigh — are low-set slab homes with particleboard floors, where stormwater surcharge under the doors does the most damage, fastest.
Ex-Tropical Cyclone Alfred in March 2025 put all of this on display at once: wind damage to roofs followed by days of rain into open ceilings across the region.
Insurance and documentation
Storm damage is covered on almost every Queensland home policy. The friction points are maintenance exclusions (blocked gutters that had not been cleaned) and the storm-versus-flood line. Both are settled with evidence. Our package includes the entry point and path of the water, dated photos, moisture readings from arrival through to dry standard, everything removed and why, and an itemised scope. Where the insurer approves, we bill them directly.
What storm damage restoration costs
Storm make-safe and drying runs $800 to $4,000 depending on how many rooms and how much ceiling and cavity work is involved. Extraction alone is $500 to $2,000, drying equipment $80 to $150 per unit per day, and a full clean-water restoration with ceiling and wall replacement across two or three rooms is $2,000 to $6,000. Where stormwater surcharge has brought contaminated water inside, costs move toward the grey and black water brackets. Call-out and assessment is $300 to $600.
If the storm has been through and the water is inside, get safe, get photos, and get in touch. We cover Brisbane, Ipswich and Logan through the whole season.
Last updated 16 September 2026
