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Emergency Board-Up to Secure the Building
Plywood cut and fixed over broken windows, doors and breached walls. Emergency securing for homes and businesses across the Charlotte metro and into South Carolina, after a fire, a storm or a break-in.
- Free estimates, no upfront costs
- We answer 24/7, on site within 60 minutes
- We work with all insurance companies
Why us
Why homeowners call us for emergency board-up
Boarding up is not the repair and it is not meant to be. It is the hour of work that stops the loss getting any bigger: plywood cut to the opening and fixed to something solid. Everything that comes afterwards, the drying and the cleaning and the rebuild, is cheaper and simpler because that happened first.
Whoever is standing outside the building is usually the one who has to decide, and it is not always the owner. Adjusters, property managers, landlords two states away and neighbors with a spare key all call about buildings nobody can get inside. Tell us what is open and how high it is, and we will tell you what closing it takes before anyone commits to anything.
We work for you, not the insurance
Closing an opening cannot wait for an adjuster to be appointed, and we sit on no carrier vendor list, so nobody outside the building is deciding how much of it gets boarded. Every opening is photographed and measured before it is covered, which means the state the property was in when we arrived survives on the record after the plywood hides it.
We dry it and we rebuild it
A board-up is usually the first hour of a much longer job, and it matters who does the rest of it. We are general contractors licensed in both Carolinas, so the crew that screws the plywood on is the crew that dries the building out and puts the window, wall or roof back permanently. Nobody arrives later needing the whole thing explained again.
Free estimate, any hour of any day
Nobody signs anything before we have looked at it. You get told what is open, what closing each opening takes, and what a board-up does and does not do for you, at no cost and at whatever hour you called. Our commitment is to be at your door within 60 minutes.
- 60 minutesFrom your call to our arrivalAt your door within 60 minutes.
- Since 2014Family-owned, not a franchise
- 5.0 ★Google-rated
What leaves a building open enough to need boarding
A board-up call starts with a hole that was not there this morning: a window, a door, a section of wall, a stretch of roof. How it got there changes what it takes to close it. It does not change how quickly it needs closing.
A fire leaves the structure open once the flames are out
Glass goes out in the heat or gets vented deliberately, doors are forced to get crews in, and a section of roof may be cut open to let smoke lift. When the trucks leave, rooms that were sealed against weather all morning are standing open to it, and the building keeps taking on rain and outside air for as long as nothing covers them.
Storm impact through a window, a wall or the roof
Wind drives a limb through glass, peels siding back, or tears decking off a roof in seconds, and hail can break more than one opening in a single pass. The weather moves on and the hole does not. Every gust of wind-driven rain that follows finds the same way in, and an opening left uncovered turns one loss into two.
A break-in, vandalism or a vehicle into the building
A forced door, a smashed window, a garage front a car has reversed through: the result is the same opening, and it was not built to be there. Until it is closed the building is open to the weather and open to whoever walks past, and a property standing empty while the owner is elsewhere has nobody there to notice either one.
Our customer reviews
Customer reviews from our restoration work
Real reviews from real jobs, in the reviewer's own words, including homeowners in Waxhaw and Rock Hill.
Restoration work is a stressful thing to hire for, so see what people say about how fast we answered, and how the job actually went.
Melissa HellerI had a fire at my house. His company responded within an hour to assess what needed to be removed. Everything in the house was deemed toxic and everything we touched was black and contaminated. Dan plus his crew did an amazing job removing all this stuff — within 24 hours the place was cleared out and all hauled away.
We had a major rain storm and had flooding all along the backside of our house, requiring all the sheet rock and insulation to be removed. Dan came in with his team and completely and efficiently removed all the debris and put machines in to dry out the area. He was there within an hour and stayed until the job was done. We live in Millbridge and highly recommend them.
John StefflerAfter my mother's house fire the Monday before Christmas, our family was overwhelmed and unsure of what to expect. From the very beginning, Dan and his team helped guide us through one of the most difficult situations we've ever faced. They were responsive, professional, and compassionate throughout the entire restoration process. What impressed us most was how much they genuinely cared — not just about the restoration work, but about helping our family get back to normal.
Unfortunately had a leak due to a roofing issue and I reached out to 24/7 AquaDry based on their great reviews. I was immediately answered and directed to Taylor and Zac and had someone come inspect the house within an hour. I have been the main point of contact due to English being my parents' second language and Zac has been so understanding about my parents' concerns and wishes on the restoration process. Would 100% recommend.
These guys are very professional, nice and courteous. Did the job, cleaned up after themselves. Didn't take long for them to get here — very quick. If you need help, these are the guys to call, and I live in Rock Hill.
Insurance billing
We bill your insurer directly for emergency board-up
You hire us for the restoration. We document the damage, coordinate with your adjuster, and keep you informed based on your policy and coverage. Where your policy and carrier allow it, we bill your carrier directly.
Direct billing subject to your policy and carrier approval.
What happens when you call
Our emergency board-up process
The five steps below are the ladder every job here runs on, and a board-up usually sits at the bottom of it rather than filling the whole thing. Sometimes the boarding is the entire job and the ladder stops after two rungs. On a fire or a storm loss it is the first hour of something much longer.
That is worth saying plainly, because the steps further up are named for drying and rebuilding. If water came in through the opening, those steps belong to whichever loss let it in and get scoped there. If it did not, they are what happens whenever you decide to have the opening closed permanently.
Response
A call is answered, and the first questions are what is open, how big it is, how far off the ground it sits, and whether the property can be reached safely in the dark.
Assessment
Every opening is walked, measured and photographed before anything covers it, so a record of what was open exists from before the moment it stopped being visible.
Mitigation & Containment
The board-up itself: plywood cut and fixed over windows, doors and breached walls, sized to the opening and fixed to something that will hold it through weather.
Cleaning & Drying
Not a board-up step, and pretending otherwise would help nobody. If the building took on water through the opening, that is a water or fire loss with a scope of its own, and it runs on its own clock, because materials dried within 24 to 48 hours in most cases will not grow mold.
Restoration & Repairs
Plywood is temporary and comes back off. Permanent glazing, doors, framing and roofing are the repair stage, done when you want it done, and the boards stay put until then.
Documented at every step
Every job builds the file your insurance company needs, and you keep a copy of all of it. We schedule the adjuster's walkthrough and hand your carrier the complete package. You stay posted as the claim moves:
- Thermal imaging
- Moisture graphs
- Moisture mapping
- Daily drying logs
- Video documentation
- Xactimate estimates
- Equipment monitoring
- RH and GPP monitoring
- Moisture content readings
- Before, during and after photos
- Category and Class documentation
- Insurance documentation packages
Tell us what is open and how high it is.
Service areas
Emergency board-up across the Charlotte metro and into South Carolina
25 cities, three offices, one number.
A crew can be on the road at any hour.
Our team
The team behind our emergency board-up work
Owned by Dan DiPrima and Dan Friedman
The owners are reachable, and decisions about your job are made by people you can get hold of.
You get us, not a national call center
The number you call reaches the people who do the work.
An IICRC Certified Firm, #56517068
The certification is held by the firm and the number is public, so you can look it up rather than take our word for it. It is the industry standard for cleaning and restoration work.
Three offices across the Carolinas
Waxhaw, Fort Mill, Charlotte.
The names customers actually remember
Dan, Taylor, Zac and Johnathan all get named in our reviews.
Free estimate
Get a free estimate for
emergency board-up
Send us the details and we will call you back. This works at 2am when you would rather not talk on the phone.
- On site in 60 minutesFrom your call to our arrival.
- Available 24/7Someone answers, any hour.
- Free estimateNo obligation, no pressure.
In an emergency, calling is faster.Call (704) 912-4001
FAQ
Emergency board-up questions we get asked
Can you board it up if I am not the owner and cannot get there?
Usually. The work happens outside, so the crew needs the ground around the building rather than the rooms inside it, which makes this one of the few things that can be done for a property nobody can currently enter. What we do need is somebody with authority over the property to say go ahead before anything is fixed to it. Say on the call whether that is you, the owner, a managing agent or the carrier, and we will work out the rest from there.
What leaves a building open enough to need boarding?
Fire is the most common, because putting it out usually means opening the structure, and it stays open once the flames are gone. Storm impact through a window, a wall or the roof is next. Break-ins, vandalism and vehicles into the building account for most of the rest. In every case the point of the board-up is the same: close the opening before weather, animals or anyone else adds a second loss on top of the first.
Is the estimate really free?
Yes. We come out, tell you what we find and what the job involves, at no cost and with nothing owed if you decide not to go ahead. Nothing starts until you say so.
Are you licensed and certified?
Yes, and the numbers are public. North Carolina general contractor #83926, South Carolina #CLG-123544, and IICRC certified firm #56517068 for the cleaning and restoration work.
Which areas do you cover?
We cover 25 cities across the Charlotte metro and into South Carolina, worked out of offices in Waxhaw, Fort Mill, Charlotte. If your address sits near the edge of that, call and ask rather than guess, on (704) 912-4001.