Why is the dehumidifier still running on day four?
The floor feels dry. The fans are loud, the power bill is ticking, and it has been four days. This is the most common question in water mitigation, and it deserves a real answer instead of "trust us."
Dry to the touch is not dry
Water does not stay on surfaces. It wicks into drywall, soaks into the subfloor under your flooring, and travels along framing inside the wall. Surfaces dry first because the air reaches them. The material behind and beneath them holds moisture for days, and if it is closed up wet, that is where the mold and the rot start. Drying equipment is running for the material you cannot see.
What "dry" actually means
Professional drying is not a feeling. On the first visit, readings are taken from the affected materials and from a comparable unaffected area of the same material, which sets the drying goal: the wet material returns to the moisture level of its dry twin. Every monitoring visit, 24 to 36 hours apart, takes new readings and compares them to that goal. Drying is done when the readings say so.
Why day four is normal
For a typical residential water loss, three to five days of drying is ordinary. Drywall and subfloor give up moisture slowly, and pushing too hard with heat can damage materials. The equipment count and placement come from the industry's published drying standard, and they are adjusted as the readings change. Day four with readings still above goal is not a stall. It is drying working the way it works.
What you should be able to ask
Any crew running equipment in your home should be able to answer two questions on the spot: what are today's readings, and what is the goal? If the answer is a number and a comparison, you are in good hands. If the answer is "a few more days," ask for the readings. On our projects they are in the record, visible to you, from the first visit to the last.
When it should come out
Equipment comes out when the readings reach the drying goal. Not when a schedule says so, and not a day later than the readings justify. Extended drying beyond the usual window happens, but it should be explained in the record, because your carrier will ask the same question you are asking now. A good record answers it before they do.