Meet the Team - Tidemark Water Damage Riverside

Meet the Riverside Team Behind Tidemark Water Damage Riverside

Most restoration crews show up as strangers with machines. Ours doesn’t work that way. The people who walk through your door in Riverside are the same ones who’ll be there at the end of the job, and they’re local. We’re independently owned and operated, working to the Cedarwell Care Promise, and we hire people who treat a flooded laundry room in Canyon Crest the same way they’d treat one in their own house. That’s not a mission statement. It’s how we staffed this office.

Our People

Rick Sumner, Owner

Rick started Tidemark Water Damage Riverside in 2006, back when most of his days were spent crawling under houses in the Riverside summer heat with a moisture meter in one hand and a flashlight in the other. He still walks every large loss personally. Not because he doesn’t trust the crew, but because he wants to see the water line with his own eyes before anyone writes an estimate. A tide mark is the line water leaves on a wall; it’s the first thing Rick looks for on every job. When he’s not on site, he’s usually at the shop arguing with the dehumidifier supplier about parts lead times.

Miguel R., Lead Water Technician

Miguel has been with the company for nine years and has seen just about every way water can enter a Riverside home, from slab leaks in Wood Streets bungalows to storm runoff backing up through floor drains in La Sierra. He holds IICRC certification in water damage restoration and is the person most likely to be running the Dri-Eaz and Phoenix drying equipment on your job. Before restoration work, he did framing, so he understands how a wall actually goes together when it’s dry. He keeps a spiral notebook in the truck with moisture readings from every job, going back three years.

Danielle K., Mold Remediation Lead

Danielle runs our mold side and holds both IICRC and RIA credentials. She’s the one who’ll explain why the mold in your bathroom isn’t necessarily the disaster a frantic Google search makes it seem, and what the actual protocol is for the type she’s looking at. She grew up in Riverside and knows which houses in the citrus belt tend to hold humidity, because she’s been in hundreds of them. Danielle insists on walking the perimeter of a property before setting containment, every time. If there’s a gap she doesn’t like, the job doesn’t start.

Corey T., Apprentice Technician

Corey is the newest member of the crew, two years in, and he’s already passed his initial IICRC coursework. You’ll see him hauling equipment, laying drop cloths, and taking the before-and-after photos we share with every homeowner before we leave. He’s got a habit of labeling every cord and hose so the job site doesn’t turn into a spaghetti pile by hour three. Corey is the one who’ll ask if the dog can be in the room or if the noise is going to bother anyone trying to work from home. He asks because we told him to, but he’s also the kind of person who would’ve asked anyway.

Alena S., Service Coordinator

Alena is the voice on the phone at 2 a.m. when a pipe lets go and you’re standing in an inch of water. She’s been coordinating emergency dispatch for six years and she knows the Riverside map well enough to route a crew to Orangecrest or Mission Grove without looking it up. She doesn’t quote prices over the phone, because she hasn’t seen the damage yet, but she will tell you exactly who’s coming, what they’ll be wearing, and how long the drive should take. Her background is in logistics, and it shows in how she handles a night where four calls come in at once.

One Standard, Every Job

The crew in Riverside operates under one rule that doesn’t change from house to house: the price is written down before the work starts. Every time. No exceptions. That’s true whether Rick is on site or the job is being run by Miguel with Corey carrying equipment. Shoe covers go on at the door. Drop cloths cover the floor before the first piece of equipment comes in. Ask before we move or touch anything. Respect the family’s time and quiet hours. Clean up like it’s our own home. And before the crew pulls out of the driveway, a photo of the clean-up is taken and shared, so you see exactly what was done and how it was left. The Cedarwell Care Promise network sets the bar, but the people on this page are the ones who actually clear it, every day, in Riverside heat and Riverside rain. If it’s not done right, we make it right. That promise is only as good as the person holding the moisture meter, and we hired accordingly.

Written by Rick Sumner, Owner at Tidemark Water Damage Riverside, serving Riverside since 2006.