Basement flooded yesterday..

[dmc]

not bad only a half a foot.. Everything was off the ground.. So nothing got damaged.

Question...
It's an old 100 year old field stone dirt floor basement.. the waters gone but it's wet... Any suggestions on how to dry it out? Was thinking a dehumidifier and running the furnace..

 

[o3jeff]

Dehumidifiers and fans and if anything did get wet either dry it good or toss it before mold starts.

 

[drjeff]

not bad only a half a foot.. Everything was off the ground.. So nothing got damaged.

Question...
It's an old 100 year old field stone dirt floor basement.. the waters gone but it's wet... Any suggestions on how to dry it out? Was thinking a dehumidifier and running the furnace..

Dehimidifier + furnace + maybe a few large fans to get the air moving and dry things out quicker. As it drys, you might also wnat of, if possible, crack a window to get some fresh, outside air moving through there to get what will likely be some stagnant, favorable for mold spore growth air out of there too. (having an asthmatic wife has me well versed in mold/dust minimization protocols and also the importantance of getting what is often this time of year, "stagnant" air that is trapped inside a sealed up house replaced with some fresh air

 

[dmc]

Dehimidifier + furnace + maybe a few large fans to get the air moving and dry things out quicker. As it drys, you might also wnat of, if possible, crack a window to get some fresh, outside air moving through there to get what will likely be some stagnant, favorable for mold spore growth air out of there too. (having an asthmatic wife has me well versed in mold/dust minimization protocols and also the importantance of getting what is often this time of year, "stagnant" air that is trapped inside a sealed up house replaced with some fresh air

thanks... Dehumid on... Furnace on... Fans running... the one little window is open...

It was pretty amazing how quickly the water came up and went down.. Never flooded in the 7 years we've owned the joint... i guess people knew how to build home to deal with this stuff 100 years ago...

 

[Warp Daddy]

My home is over a 100 years old has poured walls and concrete floor but i get some groundwater when monsoon season hits -- a couple minor spots around the perimeter . Luckily there is absolutely no depth to the water at all and only about a 3 ft long spot about 6 inches wide but the combo of a good dehumdifier and a great wet vac handles my situation..

Although i've never needed to do it here some great big box fans in addition to the dehumidifier and furnace will do the job and as doc said u may want to change the air in the space periodically by opening the windows for a spell


I had a new sewer drain installed with all new piping . Next jobwill be some french drains around the perimeter pitched into the sewer drain box

 

[dmc]

My home is over a 100 years old has poured walls and concrete floor but i get some groundwater when monsoon season hits -- a couple minor spots around the perimeter . Luckily there is absolutely no depth to the water at all and only about a 3 ft long spot about 6 inches wide but the combo of a good dehumdifier and a great wet vac handles my situation..

Although i've never needed to do it here some great big box fans in addition to the dehumidifier and furnace will do the job and as doc said u may want to change the air in the space periodically by opening the windows for a spell


I had a new sewer drain installed with all new piping . Next jobwill be some french drains around the perimeter pitched into the sewer drain box

The wild thing is the water came up from the dirt floor... didn't flood in from the walls.. I guess the water table just went up and up and up...

I was thinking about getting a sump

 

[skidbump]

I heard ya got 5.2 inches of rain yesterday

 

[Warp Daddy]

The wild thing is the water came up from the dirt floor... didn't flood in from the walls.. I guess the water table just went up and up and up...

I was thinking about getting a sump

yeah musta been a high water table and hydrostatic pressure -------- sump prolly is a good idea--------- D

it was a wild ride i tried to visualize your reports of water just racing down Hunter . My son and grandson ski Hunter and luv it

 

[WJenness]

That's crazy...

Basement flooding is not fun to deal with.

Back when I was in high school, my family bought a house on the other side of town, we moved into it, and finished off part of the basement as a room for me. We were there a couple of years without any water issues... Small creek in the back yard, and our neighbors got some water, but never us. They decided to waterproof their basement so they could finish it as a playroom for their kids. Right after they did that, the next storm comes through, and we got a couple of inches of water in our basement. (and all through my room).

Every other storm after that our basement continued to flood. It was not fun and we ended up moving partially because of that.

-w

 

[Grassi21]

Good suggestions so far. When our hot water heater sprang a leak the clean up crew dispatched from the insurance company came in and vacuumed up the water. They left behind 2 5' tall dehumidifiers and about 8 high powered fans. They had me run them non stop for 3 days.

 

[Glenn]

See if you can rent an industrial dehumidifier. Before we bought our house, a pipe burst in the baseboard heating system. It made a mess of the ceiling in the garage. That's what happens when the home owner cheaps out and doesn't top off the tank...and the seller pays for any oil at closing...figure that out. Anyways, the crew that cleaned up had some serious units that they let run for a few days. Those did a great job of drying things out.

 

[dmc]

Already had to dump the dehumidifier - filled up quick! FAns are on... Things are drying out... thanks folks!!!
Now I can get out and ride a bit..

 

[Grassi21]

Already had to dump the dehumidifier - filled up quick! FAns are on... Things are drying out... thanks folks!!!
Now I can get out and ride a bit..

watching a basement dry is more stressful than watching paint dry...

go get some!

 

[billski]

Hey dmc,
I went through that three times in 5 years, so we got quite good at it. We've had pros dry it out first time, and then after we learned from them, we did it ourselves. After #2, we did a permanent fix. #3 was a comedy of errors.

#1 - 1 week nonstop rain, 2 feet water in basement.
Drying it out: everything everyone said, but for sure, the fans work a helluva a lot faster than than a dehe. Big honking fans. Buy em or rent them. Important: Keep moving the fans around. Keep windows open, or at least cracked so the moisture has some place to go. Expect it to take 2 to 5 days after all the water is gone before you can shut off the fans. Serious. Remove all standing water. Spray a chlorine-water mix onto any porous surfaces that were submerged. You've got to hit the mold spores before they get out of hand, and cause major stink-age. After the fans, keep the dehe on high. Get a hygrometer and keep an eye on the humidity until you can get it down to something manageable it will also tell you how much progress you are making toward shutoff.

First fix:
First, get a $10 water alarm, in case it happens again. We got one that dials our cell phone for $40.
We then installed a french drain halfway around the basement perimeter because the rest of the walls were hard to get to. Bad idea. Installed a sump and pump.
Bought FEMA flood insurance when we found out nothing was covered.

Second flood:
Water poured in , sump #1 failed. 1-foot of water.

Remedial, after clean up : finished perimeter french drain. Replaced first pump, installed second backup pump. Made second pump battery-backup, in case of power failure.

Third flood:
Power failure. First pump inoperative. Second pump ran off battery, was plumbed incorrectly, no check valve - water pumped back into itself. Drained backup battery.

Fixed: finally got it plumbed right. Test pumps annually in late winter. Test alarm 2x year.
Enhanced water alarm with another unit next to the boiler.
Alarm goes off, boiler had blown off several gallons of water. Another story.
Paranoid, you bet. Then again, we've not had a problem since, the sump works happily along.


Been good for 10 years since.

 

[Warp Daddy]

Already had to dump the dehumidifier - filled up quick! FAns are on... Things are drying out... thanks folks!!!
Now I can get out and ride a bit..

continue to


Good Deal D -- just keep watching it , hopefully it'll continue to do the job !

 

[Warp Daddy]

D: hows the drying out going -- u all set now ??

 

[Vortex]

The wild thing is the water came up from the dirt floor... didn't flood in from the walls.. I guess the water table just went up and up and up...

I was thinking about getting a sump

Sump fan and low heat. Be aware that cause vapor the more heat you add.. Best way is just moving the air and using a dehumidifier.


Water comes in at the weakest point. Only way to really waterproof is to make a concrete based floor and the same for the side walls then there are negative side coatings that can penetrate the pours of the concrete and block water and vapor transitions.

There are membrane systems as well, but really not practical. Some masonry work is still needed.

if you ever get to the point of doing this give me a call. I could help you with materials and info. I am on the commercial side, but the technology for commercial is much better than the mom and pop systems and more chemically and technologically sound.

Advice free, material at cost.

 

[dmc]

D: hows the drying out going -- u all set now ??

yup... Pretty much just put fans in and dehumidifeir... It's almost dry now...

My buddy Jons blog has some crazy pictures... What happened to me wasn't that bad considering.. thanks for the advice everyone!

http://hunterskiscene.blogspot.com/2010/01/hunter-flooding-from-jan-25.html

 

[Warp Daddy]

yup... Pretty much just put fans in and dehumidifeir... It's almost dry now...

My buddy Jons blog has some crazy pictures... What happened to me wasn't that bad considering.. thanks for the advice everyone!

http://hunterskiscene.blogspot.com/2010/01/hunter-flooding-from-jan-25.html

Glad to hear ur ok ---------------------------------as far as the pics that some pretty nasty chit there

 

[Glenn]

Wow! That's a heckofa flood! Hope there wasn't too much damage to those houses.