Provider profile
Kingsley Water Damage & Fire Cleanup
Provider snapshot
What this listing says
Columbia and Midlands SC homeowners who want a family-owned restoration company that carries pollution liability insurance and prioritizes drying over demolition.
Best for
- Columbia, Lexington, and Midlands SC homeowners dealing with water damage, mold, or fire who want a single company to handle the full restoration process.
- Homeowners who want their restoration company to handle insurance billing directly using industry-standard estimating software.
- Property owners who prefer a drying-first approach to reduce demolition, reconstruction costs, and claim processing time.
- Commercial property managers in South Carolina who need mold testing with independent lab analysis and direct insurer coordination.
- After-hours emergencies — Kingsley dispatches 24/7 and multiple reviewers confirm arrival within one to two hours on nights and weekends.
About this company
Kingsley Water Damage & Fire Cleanup is a family-owned restoration company based in Columbia, South Carolina. They run three offices — Columbia, West Columbia, and Florence — and claim statewide coverage plus national disaster response. Their primary identity is water damage restoration, but they handle mold remediation, mold testing, fire damage, storm damage, and air duct cleaning for both residential and commercial properties.
What stands out is their "drying over demolition" approach to water damage. Instead of tearing out materials first, they prioritize drying to reduce reconstruction costs and insurance claim totals. They use a botanical antimicrobial solution for sanitization and send mold samples to an independent lab for analysis. They also carry pollution (mold) liability insurance — a coverage most general liability policies exclude — and they proactively encourage customers to ask for proof of it.
Kingsley handles insurance billing directly, using the same estimating software insurers use, and offers home improvement financing through EnerBank. They maintain IICRC certification and hold a BBB rating.
A 5.0-star rating across 367 Google reviews is genuinely rare for a restoration company at this volume. Reviewers consistently name the same field technicians — Dante, Angel, Teddy, Armando — which suggests low crew turnover and a stable workforce.
Services
Service area
Headquartered in Columbia, SC with additional offices in West Columbia (2548 Morningside Drive) and Florence (202 3rd Loop Rd). They list service area pages for 75+ cities across South Carolina, from Greenville and Spartanburg in the upstate to Myrtle Beach, Hilton Head, and Charleston on the coast. That is a very broad claim for a company with three offices — confirm response time for locations more than an hour from Columbia or Florence.
Review consensus
Dante is the most frequently named technician, appearing in over 25 reviews as a field crew leader who is punctual, communicative, and detail-oriented. Angel serves as the mitigation manager and draws praise for on-site assessments, moisture readings, and walking homeowners through the process — multiple reviewers mention him arriving within an hour for after-hours emergencies. Teddy is consistently named alongside Dante and Angel as a reliable crew member. Matt Hall handles sales and account management; reviewers describe him as responsive after business hours, knowledgeable during presentations, and proactive with scheduling. Byron receives praise for going the extra mile. Jeanne is singled out for office coordination and communication. Armando, Osirus, Tim, Erick, JoJo, Austin, Jamarius, Ben, and Darian all appear in positive reviews as part of field crews. The dominant praise themes are fast response time (often within one to two hours, including weekends and evenings), clear step-by-step communication during the process, and respectful treatment of the home.
0 found across 367 total reviews at 5.0★ (1 three-star review with no text). No 1-star reviews exist in the recent window. The sole negative is a 3-star review from ms.chelle (November 2025) that contains no review text. The owner responded by thanking the reviewer and naming Byron, Angel, and Armando, suggesting work was completed. Without complaint text, no specific issue can be identified.
The review pattern is striking: 367 reviews at a perfect 5.0 with only a single 3-star complaint (and that one has no text). Staff names are remarkably consistent across months, suggesting stable crews rather than high turnover. The owner response on the sole negative review was personalized, naming specific technicians rather than using a template. Several reviews come from real estate agents and property managers (Vista, insurance professionals) who describe an ongoing working relationship, indicating repeat commercial referral channels.
Dante (field technician/crew lead — positive, most frequently named), Angel (mitigation manager — positive, praised for assessments and emergency response), Teddy (field technician — positive, consistently named with Dante and Angel), Matt Hall (sales/account manager — positive, praised for communication and after-hours availability), Armando (field technician — positive), Byron (operations — positive), Osirus (field technician — positive), Jeanne (office coordination — positive), Tim (field technician — positive), Erick (field technician — positive), JoJo (field technician — positive), Austin (field technician — positive), Jamarius (field technician — positive), Ben (field technician — positive), Darian (field technician — positive), Dontay (field technician — positive), Tyler (field technician — positive)
Kingsley has an exceptionally clean review record for a restoration company at this volume. If you hire them, ask for Dante or Angel on the field crew — they are the most consistently praised. Because they do both testing and remediation, get your own mold test or ask them to use a truly independent testing firm before agreeing to a remediation scope of work.
Keep in mind
- Kingsley does both mold testing and mold remediation. That means the same company that identifies a mold problem also profits from fixing it. Ask whether they will accept a third-party test or if you can get an independent assessment before committing to remediation.
- They claim statewide coverage across South Carolina and even national disaster response. From Columbia, reaching Hilton Head, Myrtle Beach, or Greenville means multi-hour drives. Confirm response time for your specific location before booking.
- Their website leans heavily on marketing language and SEO pages. The substantive detail — drying-over-demolition, botanical antimicrobial, pollution liability insurance — is real, but you have to dig past the sales copy to find it.
- Financing is offered through EnerBank with rates starting at 8.99% APR. Understand the loan terms and whether your insurance covers the work before signing up for financing.
- The sole recent negative review (3 stars) contained no text, so there is no way to evaluate what went wrong. With only 1 complaint visible in 18 months across 367 reviews, the complaint record is unusually thin — which could reflect genuine quality or could reflect review management.