Start with conditions, not a product
A Lake County home doesn't get a one-size drying plan -- how long the framing was wet and what's trapped behind the drywall both shape the timeline.
Build a complete scope
- How far moisture reached into framing and subfloor
- Which wall or floor cavities need to be opened
- Placement and monitoring of drying equipment
- Meter readings before anything is closed back up
- What ends drying coverage early
Waukegan context
Waukegan's lakefront terrain is cut by ravines that drain toward Lake Michigan, and the city's harbor itself carries a well-documented water history: Outboard Marine Corporation's PCB discharges into Waukegan Harbor, discovered in 1976, required a $150 million federal Superfund cleanup that wasn't finished until a 2012-2013 dredging removed the last of the contaminated sediment. That same lakefront geography — bluffs, ravines, and a floodplain regulated under the city's Watershed Development Ordinance — is why storm drainage and water intrusion stay a live concern for homes built at every point across the city's growth.