United Water Restoration Group Owner Jimmy McDaniel stands by the equipment he uses to service water restoration needs in Salisbury and surrounding areas. - Chandler Inions

SALISBURY — There’s a new water restoration sheriff in town.

Jimmy McDaniel officially opened a United Water Restoration Group location in Salisbury earlier this week.

McDaniel brings decades of experience in the industry to Salisbury, a town familiar to the man who was raised in Statesville.

“So we would run down through here and I always remember riding down through Innes Street,” McDaniel said. “This was back before Jake Alexander was even built, we would ride down Innes Street to go to (Hwy.) 52, passing through to go to see my great-grandmother that lived in Laurinburg. So I always loved the town.”

McDaniel worked in the restoration business in Charlotte for 20 years. In 2015, he and four other partners opened a company called Cardinal Restoration, building it into a $3 million per year business. They sold the company in 2022 and McDaniel stayed on in a supervisory capacity with new ownership. Forfeiting his managerial and ownership autonomy came at a cost too great to bear. After a couple of years, he decided he needed to get back into business for himself. As he explored franchise options, something about United Water Restoration Group stood out to him.

“It was something about the way they treated their franchisees,” McDaniel said. “It was everything that I wanted to hear.

“I joined these guys, and they’ve been great. They run the franchise as if you never knew restoration. So they can take somebody that knows no restoration and get them to be successful. I figured if I have 20-plus years knowledge in it, surely they can take me and help me grow really fast.”

Acknowledging that starting from scratch presented too tall of an obstacle, McDaniel felt the franchise route would provide that autonomy he needed without having to begin again. Now he can focus on his main goal, cultivating a small-town business that offers customers friendly, familiar service.

Let’s face it. Customers contacting United Water Restoration Group are probably not having the best day. What McDaniel offers is to put a stop to whatever incident arises before it becomes a tragedy.

“If you have a water loss in your house, your toilet overflows, your kid stops up the sink, or your ice maker line breaks on your refrigerator and dumps water into your house, we’re the people you call,” McDaniel said. “We’ll come, get it cleaned out, get it dried out, and get it fast enough you don’t worry about mold or any microbial growth.

“The new construction houses now are built real tight. If you get moisture inside of it and you don’t do something about it, it has the chance to get microbial growth fairly quickly now. And especially in our region where it’s really humid, and in the summertime it’s super humid. If you leave something sitting for a little while, in 48 hours it can start growing. So then if you don’t do something with it pretty quick, you end up with a real big mess.”

McDaniel described his team as “first responders for water damage.”

United Water Restoration Group is located at 1007 Lexington Ave. Suite 2A. Being so close to downtown was important for McDaniel as he is looking to inject himself and the company into the pipeline of the community.

“I needed 1,500 to 3,000 square feet,” McDaniel said. “I ran across this listing, and I reached out to Jerry (Davis), which was Century 21, Towne and Country Century 21 here in Salisbury, and he introduced me to the owner of the building.”

McDaniel mentioned that the introduction went great and agreeable terms were quickly met, so the downtown dream came to fruition.

When McDaniel is not at work, he can usually be found at home with his wife and their four small dogs. He has a college-aged son and daughter, the latter who is going to St. Augustine University for a graduate degree.

He and his wife love to go camping. They have a fifth-wheel camper that affords them a lot of mobility, and true to his nature, McDaniel said he loves visiting small towns and seeing what they have to offer beyond their initial charm.

To contact United Water Restoration Group, call 704-705-8850 or email McDaniel at jmcdaniel@unitedwrg.com.