24/7 Emergency Services For Water, Fire, Mold and Biohazard in Enka
PuroClean of South Asheville — 309 Rockwood Road, Arden, NC 28704
Enka takes its name from the Dutch phonetic pronunciation of N and K, the initials of Nederlandse Kunstzijdefabriek, a Netherlands rayon company that chose Buncombe County’s Hominy Valley for a new American plant in 1928. Asheville businessman Fred Loring Seely, who had met Dutch industrialists years earlier while sourcing quinine in Java for his father-in-law E.W. Grove, helped convince the company that the valley offered the water, timber, and labor a rayon mill required. The American Enka Company purchased 2,300 acres of pastureland and built what became the world’s largest rayon-producing plant, developing Enka Village around it with employee housing, a library, a gym, a bowling alley, a church, a hospital, a post office, and a community lake now known as Biltmore Lake. Hominy Creek, which runs past the plant site, made its presence known early: a major regional flood in the 1940s sent creek water pouring into the plant, rising five feet inside the building and stranding roughly a thousand workers who had to be rescued by boat. The company’s brick clock tower, now more than 90 years old and the last structure standing from the original plant, still marks the center of the community and anchors the Enka Heritage Trail, a Buncombe County greenway planned along Hominy Creek. Badische Corporation bought American Enka in 1985, forming BASF’s fibers division; the plant changed hands again in 2000 and stopped producing rayon by 2007, with BASF donating 37 acres for an Enka campus of Asheville-Buncombe Technical Community College. Today Enka is an unincorporated community with its own ZIP code, sitting on US 19-23-74 Business near the interchange of Interstates 26, 40, and 240, surrounded by Enka High School, the Enka-Candler Library, and the newer homes built around Biltmore Lake. That layered history leaves Enka with a genuinely mixed property profile: century-old mill cottages, light-industrial buildings near the interstate, a community college campus, and newer residential construction around the lake.
Water and fire damage calls our team handles across Enka include:
PuroClean of South Asheville operates out of 309 Rockwood Road in Arden, and reaching Enka means crossing the width of Asheville on the interstate system. Our trucks head north on I-26, crossing the French Broad River on the Smoky Park Bridge and continuing through the I-26/I-240 corridor to the interchange with I-40 near Sand Hill, a junction local drivers know well for its heavy traffic. From there, we continue on I-40 west to Exit 44, where US 19-23 (Smoky Park Highway) carries us directly into Enka, passing close to the Enka Clock Tower and the surrounding business corridor. For homes and businesses nearer Sand Hill Road and Enka Lake Road, we exit slightly earlier and approach from Sand Hill Road directly, which also gives us quick access to the Biltmore Lake community. Depending on the time of day and traffic through the I-26/I-40/I-240 interchange, a technician typically reaches Enka within twenty-five to thirty-five minutes of a call, and our dispatchers watch real-time traffic conditions through that interchange to choose the fastest available path, since congestion there can add meaningful time during rush hour or a major storm. For businesses along the US 19-23 corridor and the light-industrial buildings near the interstate, that same route gives us direct, fast access, which matters when a water event threatens inventory, equipment, or a facility that needs to stay operational.
Enka’s water risk starts with Hominy Creek, the waterway that has shaped the community since the rayon plant’s earliest days. The creek’s watershed covers a wide mix of agricultural, residential, and industrial land, which means it carries significant runoff and rises quickly during heavy rain, a pattern documented as far back as the 1940s flood that put five feet of water inside the Enka plant and continuing through more recent events, including flooding recorded at Hominy Creek River Park in 2004 and the flooded intersection of Sand Hill Road and Enka Lake Road during Hurricane Helene in September 2024. Enka’s position near the interchange of Interstates 26, 40, and 240, an intersection so congested it carries the local nickname Malfunction Junction, adds another layer to the area’s water risk: the dense network of highways, ramps, and parking areas creates large expanses of pavement that shed rainfall quickly rather than absorbing it, concentrating runoff into Hominy Creek and the low-lying properties near it faster than a more rural watershed would. The community’s building stock reflects nearly a century of different construction standards. Homes in the original Enka Village mill community, some dating to the plant’s earliest years, often carry original plumbing and less insulation than homes built in recent decades, making them more prone to both freeze-related pipe bursts in winter and slow leaks that can go unnoticed until mold has taken hold. Light-industrial and warehouse buildings near the interstate bring their own concerns, including large roof surfaces and equipment sensitive to water exposure, while the newer homes built around Biltmore Lake, on the site of the original Enka Lake, generally sit on more modern foundations but still face runoff pressure from the surrounding, increasingly developed watershed. Taken together, a flood-prone creek, a major highway interchange’s worth of impervious surface, and a housing stock spanning from the 1930s to the present day make Enka a community where water damage risk varies significantly by both location and the age of the building involved.
Owned & Operated by Donald Slagle
309 Rockwood Road, Arden, NC, 28704
(828) 974-8408
Water damage can result from unexpected leaks, flooding from storms, plumbing failures, or appliance malfunctions. Our certified teams focus on rapid water removal, drying, and stabilization to help prevent further damage and mold growth.
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Even after a fire is extinguished, smoke, soot, and odor can continue to affect your home. Fire damage restoration services address visible damage while also helping reduce lingering effects that impact indoor air quality and surfaces.
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Mold often develops as a result of unresolved moisture or hidden water damage. Professional mold remediation helps identify affected areas, contain growth, and restore healthy indoor conditions.
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Biohazard situations, including crime scene cleanup and virus decontamination, require specialized cleaning and handling to protect health and safety. Biohazard cleanup services address contamination using proper protocols and professional care.
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When water gets into plenums, interstitial cavities, or shared building systems, the visible damage is rarely the full scope. PuroClean of South Asheville stabilizes commercial water events with systems-level assessment, rapid extraction, and documented drying milestones to support risk, compliance, and claims decisions. In commercial buildings, water migrates silently through ceiling plenums, HVAC ductwork, and shared wall assemblies before visible damage appears.
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For hotels, restaurants, and guest-facing businesses, the first decisions are about what can be restored vs. written off—and how each item is documented for the claim. PuroClean of South Asheville manages smoke/soot recovery alongside contents triage so you can plan phased re-opening with fewer surprises.
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In multi-tenant commercial buildings, a mold discovery quickly becomes a coordination problem—landlord notices, tenant questions, access scheduling, and separate insurance policies. PuroClean of South Asheville delivers source-driven remediation with containment controls and clearance-ready documentation so you can protect occupants, limit spread, and reopen with confidence.
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When an incident disrupts guest-facing operations, coverage questions and documentation timing matter as much as cleanup. PuroClean of South Asheville helps hospitality and commercial managers coordinate biohazard response with the records your insurer and adjuster need—from first entry to final clearance.
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Water damage can result from unexpected leaks, flooding from storms, plumbing failures, or appliance malfunctions. Our certified teams focus on rapid water removal, drying, and stabilization to help prevent further damage and mold growth.
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Find answers to common questions about our services
Standard homeowner policies, including HO-B forms, generally exclude rising creek water, which is the risk properties nearest Hominy Creek, Sand Hill Road, and Enka Lake Road face most directly. That exposure requires a separate NFIP flood policy. If your property does flood, we document every affected area with photos and moisture readings and build the estimate in Xactimate so it matches whichever coverage applies, whether that is a flood policy or a standard claim for a different, covered water source.
Yes. Homes built during the mill village’s early decades often carry original or partially updated plumbing and less insulation than modern construction, which makes them more prone to both winter freeze bursts and slow leaks that go unnoticed behind older walls. We use moisture meters and thermal imaging to check for hidden water in these homes more carefully than we would in newer construction, and we document any pre-existing wear separately from new storm or leak damage for your insurance claim.
Yes. The light-industrial and warehouse buildings near Enka’s interstate interchange face water risks tied to large roof systems and equipment or inventory that cannot tolerate standing water. We scope commercial losses with the same moisture mapping and Xactimate-based documentation we use for homes, and we coordinate with your property insurance and any business-interruption coverage to help your operation get back open with as little downtime as possible.
Generally, homes built around Biltmore Lake sit on more modern foundations and grading than the original mill village, which reduces some risk, but the surrounding watershed has grown more developed over time, which increases runoff into the lake and nearby low points during heavy rain. We can walk your property during a free inspection and help you understand your specific exposure, whether that points toward NFIP flood coverage or simply better site drainage.
A technician typically reaches Enka within twenty-five to thirty-five minutes, traveling north on I-26 through Asheville and west on I-40 to Exit 44, or via Sand Hill Road for properties on that side of the community. Traffic through the I-26/I-40/I-240 interchange can affect timing, so our dispatchers monitor conditions there and choose the fastest available route. We offer 24/7 emergency response because water spreads and mold risk builds fast, often within 24 to 48 hours of a water event starting.
What Our Customers Say:
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.
PuroClean of South Asheville
(828) 974-8408
309 Rockwood Road, Arden, NC 28704
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