Anyone ever had their basement flooded? Our basement is our living room and kids room

[urban_mom]

kids' rooms and we were flooded about 4-5 inches the other night. The electricity went out, sump pump failed, and my laundry was literally floating down the hallway.

 

We made the exec decision to throw out the carpet and pad, but the baseboards are still wet. We have fans and a dehumidifier going, but what else can I do to save the walls? Anyone?

 

Thanks!

[jacqui in mo]

It depends some on what caused your flooding & how quickly you got the water out of there. You might be able to spray the walls with a bleach solution, but I would call a company that deals with basement water problems to see what they have to say. The walls won't look very good when they dry. I myself would be worried about mold growth. I'm sorry you have to deal with this. What a mess! Good Luck. Jacqui

[Stacia]

My parents are going through this right now. A pipe in the wall busted & flooded the basement, including (at times) spraying out pretty forcefully all over the walls in the room where the pipe broke.

 

Their insurance company sent over a 'water recovery team'. Those folks came over, ripped out all the carpeting & padding, dragged out ruined stuff & cut out the wet sections of the walls. Then, they sprayed some kind of cleaning/bleach solution, have huge fans & dehumidifiers running. They are coming back today (after 72 hours of the fans & dehumidifiers running) to check the moisture levels down there. (I think 8-13% is acceptable??? I don't know how they measure that.)

 

I'm guessing that if the moisture levels are ok, they will finish removing things, wait for the insurance assessor to come, then start repairing/patching the walls w/ new wallboard.

 

:grouphug: to you. I know it must be a horrible mess to deal with.

[5knights3maidens]

OH MY! This just happened to our neighbor last night!! Except, a pipe burst in the kitchen ... went all over the living/dining room and into the basement. Her washing machine was literally filled to the top with water...the lid was shut. Her smoke alarms were going off and it is one big mess. I'm surprised we didn't hear it. Our homes are very close together.

[KatieJ]

Sump pump failure shoudl be covered.

We had water come in a basement window thru a window well and that was considered ground water and not covered. But mechanical failures and plumbping failurs shoudl be covered.

 

We also jsut went thru a pumping leak in the middle of our kitchen remodel. A new hose for the Diwshwasher failed.

I was awake and heard it, so the damage was minimal, but still we had commercial fans ( they sounded like engines) running in the basement for days and days, plus a large humidifier they hauled it. It was the size of a small fridge!

 

Your insurance company should pay you for the hours you have spent mopping up water already and that could be app.ied towards your deductible.

[urban_mom]

I think we are doing all the things that were suggested here (except doing it ourselves rather than with professionals). The maintenance man at our old condo has brought over the commercial fans and we bought a dehumidifier and all that, so that should help. He actually suggested we turn on the heat to aid in drying things up, which is a bit torturous in the summer, but whatever! I'm considering spraying bleach onto the baseboards, but I'm not sure what that will do to the wood. Anyone know? I know we'd have to repaint, but will it warp the wood or anything?

 

Thanks all!

 

Susan

[Jean in Newcastle]

Test the bleach solution on an inconspicuous spot.

[Suzanne in ABQ]

Call in a professional. They can drill small holes in the bottom of the walls, and run fans into the wall to dry them inside. Then, they patch the little holes. You need to paint, at least the patched spots, but it's cheaper than replacing the walls.