Can wet drywall be saved, or does it have to be cut out?

Clean water, caught fast, on standard drywall: often savable — dried in place with airflow and dehumidification, verified by readings. Contaminated water (sewage, ground water), swollen or sagging board, or water that sat for days: cut it out. The flood cut — removing the bottom section of drywall to open the wall cavity — is not overkill; it is how you dry the framing and insulation the meter says are wet.

The decision is a measurement, not an opinion. Drywall that reads wet but is structurally sound, in a Category 1 loss, dries in place routinely. Drywall with wet insulation behind it usually does not — insulation holds water against the framing, and the cavity needs to be opened regardless of how the surface reads.

Category changes everything: sewage-contacted drywall is a removal every time, whatever the readings say — porous materials cannot be disinfected through. If someone proposes "spray it and leave it" on a Category 3 loss, get a second opinion.