Free visual inspection and a written scope of work before any mitigation begins - photos, moisture readings, and drying logs go in your claim file
The scope we write is the scope we bill. Anything new gets shown to you, in writing, before we touch it.
Before
After
Before
After
Before
AfterMeet the Playa del Rey Team Behind DryMark Restoration Playa del Rey
We’re the crew that shows up when water’s still moving through your walls or mold’s turned a closet into a hazard zone. Every person on this page has been background-checked, licensed, and verified before they ever stepped into a Playa del Rey home. What ties us together isn’t a handbook, it’s The Haven Standard, Clause 1 through 7, and the fact that Alicia Brennan still reviews every written scope before a crew rolls out. We don’t do vague estimates or verbal assurances. We do documented work, photo records on every visit, and a signed 365-Day Done Right Promise. Here’s who you’ll actually meet when you call (424) 351-9295.
Our People
Alicia Brennan, Owner
I started Back to Dry in 2011 after eight years as a claims adjuster, watching homeowners lose tens of thousands because restoration crews couldn’t produce the documentation their carriers required. That gap between what happened and what could be proven became the entire business. I built The Haven Standard around it, seven clauses that start with a written price before work begins and end with a photo record when the crew leaves. I still read every scope before it goes out, and I still catch things that way. The dry humor thing? That’s real. I once told a customer their moisture reading was so high it qualified for its own zip code. Then I showed them the psychrometric data that proved we needed four more days of controlled drying. Both things were true.
Marcus T., Lead Water Damage Technician
Marcus has been running mitigation crews for fourteen years, and he can walk into a flooded ground-floor unit in the Playa del Rey dunes, glance at the baseboard swell pattern, and tell you whether you’re looking at a supply line burst or a failed dishwasher valve before he pulls his moisture meter. He’s IICRC-certified in Water Damage Restoration (WRT) and Applied Structural Drying (ASD), which means he understands how vapor pressure differential, the force that drives moisture from wet materials into dry air, actually behaves in coastal California’s salt-heavy atmosphere. That matters because standard drying calculations designed for inland desert climates will leave Playa del Rey walls damp enough for secondary mold. Marcus adjusts for it. Off the job, he restores vintage motorcycles and applies the same patience to both: measure twice, cut once, document everything.
Dana K., Senior Mold Remediation Installer
Dana came to us from a commercial abatement background, and she still thinks in containment perimeters and negative air pressure differentials. She’s the person who builds the plastic walls, runs the HEPA scrubbers, and makes sure spore counts drop to clearance levels before anyone removes a respirator. Her specialty is tertiary drying, the final phase where materials look dry but still hold enough bound moisture to support hidden mold colonies. Dana holds RIA certification and has completed advanced training in microbial remediation through the IICRC. She once found a colony growing behind a supposedly dry shower surround in a Culver Boulevard condo because the contractor had skipped the tertiary phase and sealed it with new tile. Dana’s the reason we don’t skip that phase. She also bakes sourdough with the same precision she applies to air scrubber CFM calculations, and she’ll bring a loaf to long jobs if the homeowner doesn’t mind flour on her work boots.
Elena R., Service Coordinator
Elena answers the phones that ring at 2:17 a.m. when a water heater fails, and she’s the one who makes sure a crew is dispatched with a written scope already in hand before they arrive. She’s been with us since 2019, and she knows every adjuster at every major carrier who writes policies in Playa del Rey, which means she can coordinate direct billing and photo documentation without the homeowner playing middleman at their kitchen table. Elena tracks our Dri-Eaz, Phoenix, and Injectidry equipment deployments, schedules moisture readings, and makes sure the daily drying logs that turn restoration invoices into payable claims actually get produced and uploaded. She grew up in the Westchester area, still knows which streets flood first during a king tide, and keeps a running list of which Playa del Rey building managers require pre-approved vendor status. Her desk has a framed photo of her dog, a golden retriever who has never once questioned her authority.
Javier B., Restoration Apprentice
Javier joined us in 2023 after completing a construction technology program at Los Angeles Trade-Technical College. He’s our youngest crew member and our most enthusiastic about the documentation side of the work, probably because he watched his own family’s claim get reduced by forty percent when a previous restoration company couldn’t produce proper moisture logs. Javier’s training under Marcus on water mitigation and Dana on containment setup, and he’s already certified in IICRC WRT fundamentals. He’s the one who double-checks that every photo in the job record has a timestamp and GPS stamp, because he knows what missing documentation costs a homeowner. Javier surfs at Dockweiler before dawn when the wind’s right, and he applies the same observation skills to reading wave sets and reading wall cavities. He’s learning fast, and he’s learning right.
One Standard, Every Job
Every person on this page works under The Haven Standard, the seven-clause framework Alicia Brennan established in 2011. It doesn’t matter whether we’re drying a single bedroom near Tulear Street or coordinating a full reconstruction after a fire on Vista del Mar. Clause 1 still requires a written price before work starts. Clause 3 still mandates a photo record on every visit. Clause 7 still backs everything with the 365-Day Done Right Promise. We’re independently owned and operated, not a franchise, and that matters because Alicia makes the decisions about how we treat your home, not a distant corporate office. Our equipment, the Dri-Eaz dehumidifiers, Phoenix air movers, XPOWER and B-Air units, and Injectidry specialty drying systems, is documented to IICRC, RIA, and IFA standards on every deployment. The daily moisture logs we produce don’t just guide our drying strategy; they become the evidence your adjuster needs to approve your claim. That’s the standard. These are the people who enforce it.
Written by Alicia Brennan, Owner at DryMark Restoration Playa del Rey, serving Playa del Rey since 2011.