Reston: a planned community with many kinds of building
Reston is an unincorporated planned community in Fairfax County, a census-designated place with no town government. It was founded in 1964 by Robert E. Simon, whose initials gave it its name, and it was designed from the start around village centers, woodland paths and man-made lakes. The first of those, Lake Anne, still has its 1960s village center and some of the community's earliest townhouses and condominiums around it.
Most homes belong to Reston Association, and many also belong to a smaller cluster or condominium association that handles their own buildings and grounds. The housing mix is broad: townhouse clusters from the 1960s through the 1990s, garden-style condominiums, single-family neighborhoods, and, since the 1990s, the mid-rise and high-rise buildings of Reston Town Center and the newer towers near the Wiehle-Reston East and Reston Town Center stations on the Silver Line.
Public water and sewer serve the whole community. Heavy tree cover and the lakes keep summers green and humid, which affects how long drying takes.
Crews who know Reston's clusters, lakes and towers.
Speak With Someone LocalWater between townhouses and condos
In a Reston cluster, townhouses stand side by side with shared walls, and garden condominiums stack units on top of one another. When a supply line bursts or a tub overflows in one home, water rarely stays there. In a townhouse it runs down inside the shared wall, along the framing and top of the foundation, and appears at the lowest point it can find, often the neighbor's lower level. In a garden condo it soaks through the floor and comes through the ceiling below at light fixtures and seams.
That makes the first steps social as much as technical. The owner of the failed line needs to shut it off. The neighbor who found the water needs to take photos and tell them. The cluster's manager needs to know if a shared wall, roof or common pipe is involved. The crew then takes moisture readings on both sides of the wall or ceiling to trace the water back to its source.
Drying a shared wall usually means opening the lower drywall on the wet side so air can reach the cavity, then dehumidifying until framing and block read dry. Access to both homes keeps the job moving.
Tower losses at Town Center and the stations
In the high-rises around Reston Town Center and the Metro stations, units stack in columns with their kitchens and bathrooms lined up on shared risers and drain stacks. A leak in one unit can travel down the stack through several floors, following pipe chases and gaps around penetrations in the concrete, and the units it reaches may not sit directly beneath the source.
The building engineer is the key person here. They know which risers serve which units, where the branch valves are, and whether the problem is a unit fixture, a riser or a drain stack. The crew checks each affected floor with meters and a thermal camera, working up until readings stop, so nothing wet is missed.
Equipment then has to reach those floors by service elevator, booked and padded, with corridors protected and work kept within the building's hours. Machines often have to run overnight in occupied units, so the crew plans placement and noise with the management office before setting up.
Owner, neighbor or manager: we'll explain what happens next.
Talk to a Restoration ProHumidity, woods and lakes: why drying takes time
Reston's tree cover and lakes are a big part of its character, and in summer they add to an already humid climate. That matters for drying. Water in carpet, drywall and framing has to evaporate into the air, and then dehumidifiers remove it. When the air outside is already heavy with moisture, opening windows lets more in, so the crew keeps the home closed up and lets the equipment work.
Air movers speed evaporation by pushing air across wet surfaces; dehumidifiers do the real work of pulling water out of the air. In a cluster townhouse or condo with limited airflow, sizing and placement matter, and so does keeping doors closed so the machines aren't trying to dry the whole building.
A room can feel dry days before the subfloor, the bottom plate of the wall or the framing are. The crew takes readings on every visit and removes equipment only when materials match dry reference points.
Who is responsible for a loss in a shared building, and whose insurance applies, depends entirely on the specific policies, governing documents and circumstances. In Reston that can involve a cluster or condominium association as well as Reston Association, so ask your own insurer and your association managers rather than guessing.
Also near Reston
Reston is part of our Fairfax County & City of Fairfax service area. Neighboring pages cover Herndon to the west, Great Falls and Vienna to the east, Oakton to the south, and Sterling across the Loudoun line.
Lower level of a single-family home or cluster townhouse?
Water in the Basement? Call NowReston service area
We connect owners, tenants, landlords, cluster and condominium managers and building engineers across 20190, 20191 and 20194, from Lake Anne and Hunters Woods to South Lakes, North Point and Reston Town Center. Route 267 and Reston Parkway can be slow at peak times, so we'll give you honest timing when you call.
ZIP codes served: 20190, 20191 and 20194
Services for Reston homes and buildings
- Condo & Shared-Building Water Damage
- Townhouse Water Damage
- High-Rise Water Damage Restoration
- Ceiling Water Damage Repair
- Multi-Unit & Apartment Water Damage
- Appliance Leak Water Damage
Scope and price agreed before any work starts.
Call for Upfront PricingReston water damage questions
Our townhouse is in a cluster and in Reston Association. Who do we tell?
Start with your cluster's manager or board, especially if water came from a roof, shared wall or common pipe. They'll know whether anyone else needs to be told. Tell your neighbor if water may have reached the shared wall, and tell your own insurer.
Our Reston condo building has a building engineer. What will they need from the crew?
Which units and floors are affected, what the crew has found, and what equipment is coming in. The engineer can share riser maps, valve locations and building rules. The crew will book the service elevator and work to the building's hours.
Do I need to tell the association?
Promptly, if water came from or reached a shared wall, roof, riser or common area, or if equipment needs to go in common spaces. For a small leak entirely inside your unit, ask your manager what they want to hear about.
How is equipment brought into a tower?
By service elevator, booked in advance and padded to protect it. Corridors and lobby floors are protected, and deliveries are timed to the building's rules. The crew coordinates all of this with management before arriving.
Can water cross the party wall of a Reston townhouse?
Rarely straight through, but it often travels along it, down the framing and across the top of the foundation into the neighbor's home. Both sides need checking with a meter to find where the water went.
Why not open the windows in a Reston condo to dry it?
In a Reston summer the outside air is often damper than the air inside, so open windows add moisture. Keeping the house closed and running dehumidifiers dries materials faster.
Does someone answer at night and on weekends for Reston?
Yes, the line is answered around the clock, every day. We'll tell you honestly when a crew can arrive and talk you through the first steps in the meantime.
Can the work fit around a unit turnover?
Often, yes. An empty unit dries faster because equipment can be placed freely and run without disturbing anyone. The crew can plan drying and repairs around your turnover schedule.
Why does the equipment have to run overnight in our Reston condo?
Drying only happens while it runs. Switching off at night lets moisture settle back into materials and lengthens the job. The crew places machines to keep noise down near bedrooms and shared walls.