Middlesex County
Mold Removal in Arlington and the Alewife Floodplain
Arlington is the one town here where the flood map really does predict the damage: 35 of its 43 paid flood claims sit inside the mapped high-risk zone and they arrive in clusters, 12 in 2017 and nine in the March 2010 nor'easter. What goes back in below grade matters as much as what comes out.
Request a quote in Arlington
Tell us what you can see, where the water came from, and whether anything is still wet. That is usually enough for us to say which trade you need, and whether the job is small enough to handle yourself, before anyone comes out.
Would you rather talk it through? Call (315) 640-3590, answered 24/7.
$100 off your first job
Credited by us on your first booked job.
- One credit per customer per property, on your first booked job.
- Valid through December 31, 2026.
Mention this offer when you book. Full terms.
What 43 Arlington flood claims show about where the water goes
FEMA's NFIP claims dataset records 43 flood insurance claims for the Town of Arlington, more than any other town of its size in this coverage area, with loss years from 2001 to 2024 and about $545,000 in net payments. Thirty-five of the 43 were rated in flood zone AE, inside the mapped high-risk floodplain, with 12 claims in 2017 and nine in the March 2010 nor'easter.
Source: Federal Emergency Management Agency, OpenFEMA NFIP Redacted Claims v2, accessed 2026-09-14
The Alewife Brook release names Belmont, Arlington, Cambridge and Somerville as the communities whose combined sewer overflow, stormwater and other discharges contribute to water quality impairment of the Alewife Brook, and says all of them are running programs to identify and control those sources.
Source: City of Cambridge, Massachusetts Water Resources Authority and City of Somerville, accessed 2026-09-14
The same release states that because of increased health risks, public health officials recommend avoiding contact with the Alewife Brook and Upper Mystic River Basin during rain events and for a period of 48 hours following rainfall, and that contact with floodwaters should also be avoided.
Source: City of Cambridge, Massachusetts Water Resources Authority and City of Somerville, accessed 2026-09-14
Arlington has 47.1 percent of its housing units built in 1939 or earlier and a median year of construction of 1945, with 85.8 percent built before 1980. 37.9 percent of its units are single-family detached and 38.4 percent of occupied units are rented.
Source: U.S. Census Bureau, American Community Survey 2020-2024 5-year estimates, accessed 2026-09-14
After a storm the clock runs for 48 hours
Tell us what is still wet and we will get the drying moving on the right things.
Alewife floodwater is not rainwater, and it is handled differently
East Arlington drains toward the Alewife Brook, and Arlington is named alongside Belmont, Cambridge and Somerville as a community whose combined sewer overflow and stormwater discharges impair it. That changes the handling more than the diagnosis: public health officials advise avoiding contact with the Alewife Brook and the Upper Mystic during rain and for 48 hours afterwards, so water arriving from that direction is treated as contaminated, the people working in it wear gloves and boots, and porous material it soaked is removed rather than dried. The housing is 85.8 percent pre-1980 and mostly owner-occupied detached and two-family, so the person living in the house can usually decide in an afternoon, and the asbestos survey and lead rules still apply the moment plaster or flooring is cut. If the address is inside the mapped zone, check it before anything below grade is finished a second time.
Areas within Arlington: Arlington Center, Arlington Heights, East Arlington, Brattle Square, Morningside, Jason Heights, Poets Corner, Kelwyn Manor
What we arrange from East Arlington to Arlington Heights
Mold Inspection and Testing
Find out whether you have a real mold problem, how far it reaches and what water is feeding it, before anyone quotes you to take a wall apart.
Mold Testing in Arlington →Mold Removal and Remediation
Get the mold and the material it grew into out of the building under containment, with the pre-demolition gates cleared first and the room put back afterwards.
Mold Removal in Arlington →Water Damage Drying and Moisture Control
Get the building dry inside the window where mold never gets started, and fix the humidity or condensation that keeps making it wet.
Water Damage Drying in Arlington →Tell us how high the water came
The line on the wall decides what can be saved and what has to go.