We just moved into a new home or condo at The Cedars and found a leak — is this common for the development?

It’s not uncommon for newer construction anywhere, and The Cedars is still a relatively young development built on the former mill site along the Fox River. Plumbing connections and building envelope details in new construction haven’t always been tested through a full cycle of Wisconsin seasons, and small issues can surface as a building settles. Our priority is extracting any water and drying affected materials before mold develops, which can begin within 24 to 48 hours. We document everything thoroughly, which is useful if the issue needs to be addressed under a builder warranty separately from the cleanup itself.

Our home near the old mill site is from the early 1900s — does its age and location near the river change how you'd handle a water loss?

Yes, both factors matter. Homes built during Kimberly’s early 1900s growth around the original Kimberly-Clark mill often have foundations from that era — stone, brick, or early concrete — that can retain moisture longer than modern poured concrete, especially given the proximity to the Fox River. During our assessment, we use moisture meters to establish how your specific home is responding and map how far water has traveled into older framing and subfloor materials, since the combination of an older foundation and riverfront proximity can mean a longer drying timeline than a similar-sized loss in a newer, inland home.

How quickly can you respond to a commercial water loss at a business in The Cedars or near Sunset Park?

Kimberly is just a few miles from our Appleton location via College Avenue or Wisconsin Avenue, so commercial calls anywhere in the village — whether at The Cedars, near Sunset Park, or in the established business areas — are typically among our fastest response times in our service area, often well under our standard 1-2 hour window. For a commercial property, we prepare Xactimate-aligned, line-itemed estimates that work with business interruption coverage, helping minimize downtime for Kimberly business owners.

We're close to the Fox River near the old mill area — should we be concerned about flooding the way some riverfront communities are?

Kimberly’s relationship with the Fox River has been part of the village since its earliest days as a mill town, and properties closest to the water can experience seasonal groundwater fluctuations tied to river levels, which may show up as basement dampness rather than dramatic surface flooding. If you’re noticing recurring moisture issues, it’s worth discussing flood coverage options with your insurance agent, including whether an NFIP policy makes sense for your specific property, separate from your standard homeowners coverage. We can document any water intrusion with photos and moisture readings to support that conversation.

Our neighbor's house had a fire and we're worried about smoke damage to our home too, since the houses are close together — do you check for that?

Yes, and it’s a valid concern in Kimberly’s older residential blocks, where homes from the village’s mill-era growth often sit close to their lot lines. Smoke and soot can migrate to neighboring structures through attic spaces, shared walls, or simply ambient smoke exposure during a fire, even if there’s no visible fire damage to your home. We can assess your property for smoke odor and soot residue, and if any is found, our smoke residue cleaning techniques are tailored to the specific surfaces and materials affected, separate from any work being done on the original fire-damaged property.

Water Damage Restoration Service in Kimberly, Wisconsin for Homes and Businesses

From The Cedars to The Cedars: A Mill Town’s Full-Circle Story Along the Fox River

Kimberly’s history runs in a circle. The area was first known as ‘The Cedars,’ a name tied to the Treaty of the Cedars, then later as Smithfield, before Kimberly-Clark Corporation built a major pulp and paper complex on the Fox River in 1889 and the growing community was renamed in honor of company co-founder John A. Kimberly. The original mill burned down just two years later, in 1891, and John Kimberly rebuilt it on the same site as what locals described as a testament to the community’s hardworking people. The Village of Kimberly officially incorporated on June 29, 1910, and for more than a century the mill — later sold through Repap, Consolidated Papers, StoraEnso, and finally NewPage before closing for good around 2011 — was the economic heart of the village.

After the mill’s equipment was auctioned off and demolition began, the Village of Kimberly acquired the riverfront property in 2017 and began developing it as The Cedars — bringing the community’s name full circle back to its earliest identity. The Cedars today is home to single-family homes, condos, apartments, and businesses on the same ground where the paper mill once stood along the Fox River. Beyond The Cedars, Kimberly’s neighborhoods include the area around Sunset Park, a community gathering spot for picnics and sports, and the Kimberly Public Library, which serves as a cultural hub. The Paper Trail, a historical walking tour, traces the village’s industrial heritage, and Paperfest remains an annual celebration of the paper industry that built this community. At just over 2.4 square miles with around 6,500 residents, Kimberly packs a lot of riverfront redevelopment, established residential neighborhoods, and small-town character into a compact footprint.

Here’s what we’re typically called out for in Kimberly:

Basement and foundation seepage in homes built during Kimberly’s early 1900s mill-era growth
Sump pump failure in residential neighborhoods throughout the village’s 2.4-square-mile footprint
Water damage and plumbing issues in new construction at The Cedars development along the Fox River
Sewer backup and Category 3 sewage cleanup in older homes near the historic mill site
Mold growth in basements and crawlspaces of homes near the Fox River corridor
Storm and wind damage to roofs on homes near Sunset Park and surrounding neighborhoods
Frozen and burst pipes in century-old homes throughout Kimberly’s established residential blocks
Water damage to commercial and retail space in and around The Cedars and the village center
Fire and smoke damage cleanup for homes and businesses, including odor and soot removal
Water removal and drying for multi-family properties — condos and apartments — within The Cedars development

How We Get to Kimberly From Our Appleton Location

Our team is based at 400 S Linwood Ave in Appleton, and Kimberly sits just a few miles southeast, making it one of our quickest service areas to reach. For most calls, our trucks take College Avenue or Wisconsin Avenue toward the Fox River crossing, then continue into Kimberly via Washington Street or Lincoln Street, both of which provide direct access to the village center, Sunset Park, and the surrounding residential blocks. This short, direct route keeps Kimberly calls comfortably within our 1-2 hour emergency response window, typically much faster.

For calls at The Cedars development along the riverfront, where the old mill once stood, we follow the same river-adjacent streets toward the redeveloped property, since this area has changed significantly in recent years and our dispatch team keeps current on the development’s evolving street layout as new phases of construction are completed. For homes further from the river, in Kimberly’s established residential neighborhoods near the Kimberly Public Library or toward the village’s borders with Little Chute and Combined Locks, we use the village’s grid of residential streets, which are generally straightforward to navigate. Because Kimberly is bordered closely by Little Chute, Combined Locks, and Appleton, our dispatch team sometimes coordinates routing with whichever truck is closest if calls come in from multiple Heart of the Valley communities around the same time.

What Drives Water, Mold, and Fire Risk in Kimberly

Kimberly’s location on the Fox River shapes much of its water risk profile, just as it shaped the village’s entire economic history. The river that powered the Kimberly-Clark mill for over a century, and that now runs alongside The Cedars development, means properties closest to the water can experience seasonal groundwater fluctuations tied to river levels — a dynamic that’s been part of this riverfront community since the mill’s earliest days. Homes built during Kimberly’s early 1900s growth, when the village incorporated in 1910 and grew rapidly around the mill’s workforce, often sit on foundations from that era, with stone, brick, or early concrete construction that responds differently to river-driven moisture than modern poured concrete. Over more than a century, these foundations have had ample time to develop the small cracks and seepage points that let groundwater in in during wet periods.

The Cedars development introduces a different kind of risk profile entirely. As relatively new construction built on a former industrial site, properties here face the same new-construction considerations common to any recently built community — plumbing connections, fixture seals, and building envelope details that haven’t yet been tested through many cycles of Wisconsin’s freeze-thaw seasons. Additionally, redevelopment of a former mill site can involve soil and drainage conditions shaped by over a century of industrial use, which engineers and developers account for during construction but which can still influence how water moves around foundations in ways that differ from a site that’s always been residential.

Kimberly’s dense, compact layout — just 2.4 square miles packed with roughly 6,500 residents — also means that water and fire events here can have a different character than in more spread-out rural communities. Homes near Sunset Park and throughout the village’s residential blocks tend to be close together, which means a fire or significant water event affecting one structure can raise concerns for neighboring properties as well, particularly in the older sections of the village where homes from the mill-era boom sit close to their lot lines. On the weather side, Kimberly experiences the same severe storm patterns as the rest of the Fox Cities, with wind-driven roof damage during summer storms and the usual winter freeze risks for older plumbing systems — but the village’s age and density mean these events tend to play out within a tightly packed, historically significant footprint rather than across scattered rural acreage.

PuroClean of Appleton

Owned & Operated by Osagie Enodunmwenben

400 S Linwood Ave, Appleton, WI, 54914

(920) 944-2320

Need Urgent Restoration Services?

When you need water damage restoration services near you, call the experts at PuroClean. We are here day or night, 24/7, to help remove any standing water quickly and begin your water restoration service. We monitor the drying process so you can rest assured that your property is dried thoroughly. We offer commercial water restoration services for businesses and residential water damage restoration for homeowners.

Need Urgent Restoration Services?

Water Damage Restoration Service in Kimberly, Wisconsin for Homes and Businesses

From The Cedars to The Cedars: A Mill Town’s Full-Circle Story Along the Fox River

How We Get to Kimberly From Our Appleton Location

What Drives Water, Mold, and Fire Risk in Kimberly

PuroClean of Appleton

Areas We Serve

Commercial and Residential Services We Provide

Water Damage Mitigation

Fire and Smoke Damage Restoration

Mold Removal and Remediation

Biohazard Cleanup

Commercial Services

Water Damage Mitigation

Fire and Smoke Damage Restoration

Mold Removal and Remediation

Biohazard Cleanup

Commercial Services

Frequently Asked Questions

We just moved into a new home or condo at The Cedars and found a leak — is this common for the development?

Our home near the old mill site is from the early 1900s — does its age and location near the river change how you'd handle a water loss?

How quickly can you respond to a commercial water loss at a business in The Cedars or near Sunset Park?

We're close to the Fox River near the old mill area — should we be concerned about flooding the way some riverfront communities are?

Our neighbor's house had a fire and we're worried about smoke damage to our home too, since the houses are close together — do you check for that?

We just moved into a new home or condo at The Cedars and found a leak — is this common for the development?

Our home near the old mill site is from the early 1900s — does its age and location near the river change how you'd handle a water loss?

How quickly can you respond to a commercial water loss at a business in The Cedars or near Sunset Park?

We're close to the Fox River near the old mill area — should we be concerned about flooding the way some riverfront communities are?

Our neighbor's house had a fire and we're worried about smoke damage to our home too, since the houses are close together — do you check for that?

Testimonials

Need Urgent Restoration Services?

PuroClean of Appleton

Need Urgent Restoration Services?

PuroClean of Appleton