Who We Are
About Fort Totten Restoration
A locally owned damage restoration company serving Washington, DC since 2018. Built on hands-on experience, technical training, and a straightforward approach to doing good work.
Fort Totten Restoration
Fort Totten Restoration was established in 2018 as a damage restoration company focused on residential and commercial properties in Washington, DC. The company was built on hands-on experience in home repair and renovation, developed over years of field work in the DC metro area before restoration became the primary focus.
The name comes from the Fort Totten neighborhood in Northeast Washington — a part of the city our team knows well. That local connection is not incidental. Fort Totten Restoration operates as a locally owned business without franchise affiliation or remote management. The people making decisions about how jobs are handled are the same people doing the work.
Over the years, our crews have handled water damage events ranging from single-room pipe failures to multi-story flooding affecting entire commercial buildings. We've done post-fire cleanups in single-family homes, mold remediations in basement apartments and crawl spaces, and structural drying projects following severe weather across the DC area. The scope varies; the approach stays consistent.
Fort Totten Restoration follows IICRC standards for water damage restoration (S500), mold remediation (S520), and fire and smoke damage (S700), as well as EPA guidelines for mold work in buildings. Following established industry standards is not a marketing position — it is how we ensure that our work is effective, documented, and defensible if questions arise later.
Meet the Manager
Owen Contreras
Manager — Fort Totten Restoration
Owen Contreras has lived and worked in the Washington, DC area his whole life. He started Fort Totten Restoration after years of hands-on experience in home repair and renovation, learning the trade from the ground up and building a reputation for honest, quality work in the neighborhoods he knows well.
Owen oversees day-to-day operations and stays involved in how jobs are managed from start to finish. That means property owners are not dealing with a dispatcher or a rotating cast of project managers — they're dealing with someone who understands the technical side of restoration work and has skin in the outcome of every project.
When you work with Owen and his team, you get straightforward communication, fair pricing, and a crew that shows up and gets the job done right. Owen takes pride in treating every home like it matters, because to him and his customers, it does.
What Guides Our Work
Standards-Based Work
Every project follows IICRC and EPA protocols. These standards exist because restoration done wrong causes ongoing damage. We follow them because they produce better outcomes.
Direct Communication
Property owners stay informed throughout the job. We explain what we find, what we're doing, and why — in plain language, not jargon.
Complete Restoration
We handle assessment, extraction, drying, remediation, and rebuild — one crew, one point of contact, from first call to final clearance.
Rooted in DC
Fort Totten Restoration was founded in Washington, DC and serves the neighborhoods where our team lives and works. Local ownership means genuine accountability.
Technical Training & Industry Standards
The restoration industry has well-established technical standards, and Fort Totten Restoration applies them consistently. The IICRC — Institute of Inspection, Cleaning and Restoration Certification — publishes the standards our field work follows. These are not self-imposed rules; they represent the industry consensus on what constitutes complete, effective restoration.
For water damage work, we follow IICRC S500 guidelines covering water damage categories, moisture mapping, drying system design, and documentation requirements. Mold projects are conducted according to IICRC S520 and EPA's guidance on mold remediation in schools and commercial buildings — which also represents best practice for residential work. Fire and smoke restoration follows IICRC S700 protocols for residue testing, cleaning method selection, and odor control.
Our crew receives ongoing technical training as equipment and methods evolve. We use calibrated instruments — not estimates — to guide drying decisions and document project results. This level of rigor matters most in situations where incomplete restoration leads to recurring problems or where documentation is needed to support insurance claims.
IICRC S500 Water Damage
IICRC S520 Mold Remediation
IICRC S700 Fire & Smoke
Why Methodical Craftsmanship Matters in Restoration
Restoration work done quickly but carelessly creates hidden problems that surface later — recurring mold from incomplete drying, persistent odors from inadequate deodorization, structural issues from missed moisture readings. These failures are hard to diagnose after the fact and expensive to correct.
The difference between good restoration and poor restoration is often invisible at the time of completion. Everything looks dry. The smell is gone. The new drywall is painted. But if the framing cavity still holds moisture, if the crawl space was never addressed, if the HVAC duct still carries smoke residue — those problems will resurface.
Fort Totten Restoration's approach is to do the work in full, document it properly, and confirm completion with measured data — not just a visual check. That discipline is what separates a job that stays fixed from one that requires a callback.
Work with a local DC restoration crew you can trust.
Learn more about our services or contact us to discuss your property.