Taft was built on oil. The town was called Moron until 1909, took the president's name, and incorporated on November 7, 1910, eight months after the Lakeview Gusher blew in just south of town and ran for 544 days. The city sits at about 950 feet on the west side of the valley against the Temblor Range, and its housing is a century of oil-camp bungalows, 1950s ranch houses, and newer tracts, most of it on slabs and much of it showing its age in the plumbing.
Summers here run past 100 degrees for weeks. Winters are mild, but a hard freeze reaches Taft a few nights a year, and the cloudbursts that come off the hills flood streets fast.
This site connects Taft homeowners with an independent local water damage provider by phone. The provider looks at the house and sets the scope.
Galvanized supply lines in the older homes rust through from the inside, and burst pipe water damage cleanup follows the water across the slab and into the walls. A tank in a garage that hits 110 degrees in August fails early, and water heater leak cleanup handles the floor and the wall behind it. A bill that climbs with no change in habits is a leak detection call before anyone cuts concrete.
Rebuilds that replace drywall, plumbing, or electrical go through the Building Department at the City of Taft, and water service comes from the West Kern Water District, which can shut off at the meter. The West Kern Oil Museum on Wood Street, open since 1980, keeps the story of the gusher and the camps that became the town's older neighborhoods.
Call (661) 605-4547 to be connected with a local water damage provider serving Taft.
Standing water pumped out of a cabin, garage, or living room, then the first meter readings to see how far it traveled.
Air movers and dehumidifiers run by the readings until subfloor, framing, and drywall come back to their dry target.
Finding a hidden supply-line, wall, or under-floor leak on a mountain lot before anyone opens a wall.
Cleanup after a pipe froze and split in an exterior wall, crawl space, or empty cabin, then drying what the thaw soaked.
The rooms, floors, and walls a failed supply line reached, pumped out and dried once the water is shut off.
Wet insulation, ceilings, and walls dried out after snow load, an ice dam, or a summer storm found a way through the roof.
A failed tank in a closet, garage, or utility room and the flooring and drywall it soaked.
Standing water pumped from under a pier-and-post home, then joists and subfloor checked and dried.