Storm damage is kind of a generic term, there are many kinds of storms that could fall under that category. The results of a tornado, an area that was in the path of a hurricane or just a heavy thunderstorm. In the United States alone there are over 100,000 thunderstorms a year and there are on the average 1200 tornadoes annually. Considering there are thousands of…
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There is nothing worse than to come home and find out that there’s a Sewage Backup, when he left the house you started a load of laundry, now when you returned, you found out that your main sewer line is backed up and all the water that came from your washing machine flooded your basement. Not only is there a considerable amount of water, but the water is contaminated with raw sewage making an unsafe situation.
1.The first thing to do, after you try to collect your thoughts, is to decide whether to hire a professional plumbing company or you want to rent a drain cleaning snake from a local rental store. If you decide to rent one, make sure that you rent a “mainline” machine that has at least a 5/8 in diameter cable and preferably 100 feet long and. Do you know where you’re sewer cleanouts are? Depending on how new your house this, you may not have cleanouts. Then he would have to pull a toilet and run the snake through the closet bend. Clearing the Sewage Backup will make the job go much easier.
2.You will also need to decide whether to use a professional restoration company or try to do the Sewage Backup yourself. The first thing that you have to ask yourself is do you have the right kind of equipment and do you know how to use it. If it’s a considerable amount of water, enough to warrant the use of a pump, then what kind of pump is it? If it’s a gasoline powered pump it will have to sit outside and you will have to pump the water into your yard and hopefully that doesn’t cause a problem.
3.If the amount of water isn’t too significant with the Sewage Backup, it can probably be extracted using a shop VAC. Start vacuuming the water until the canister gets full, then you’ll need to dump it preferably into the now running drain, once the majority of the water is vacuumed up and all that is left is to sop up the remaining dampness with a rag that could be thrown away. You can then begin the disinfecting part of the Sewage Backup, because this is sewer water, there will be all kinds of bacteria in this water and you must use extreme caution when handling it.
4.The use of dehumidifiers may come in handy when you are Sewage Backup, you’ll need to get every bit of moisture from your basement, so then the presence of mold will not appear. Also the use of high velocity air movers will definitely dry your basement. Anything that the sewage water has come into contact with will either need to be cleaned and disinfected or thrown away. You do not want to take any chances when dealing with Sewage Backup and letting yourself or your family come into contact with sewage water.
It’s laundry day, you round up your clothes and you start to head to the basement as you’re getting close you start to hear a hissing sound. You think to yourself, that’s a sound I’ve never heard before you also think, when was the last time I went in the basement. As you round the corner and look down the stairs, your heart sinks, you can’t believe it, a pipe leak, your basement is half-full of water. You think, I have a sump pump, but it must not be working, this is going to be some major [ ME] here’s how the pros do it.
1.Flooded Basement requires some equipment that you may not normally have around your house. If your basement is half-full water, you’ll need to start with some sort of a pump and a place to pump the water to. If you use a gas powered pump, the pump would have to sit outside because of the carbon monoxide fumes. You would need enough hose to reach from the basement, up the stairs, and out into the yard and can your yard handle that much water without flooding your neighbor. Once you’ve pumped out as much water as possible (don’t let the pump run dry) it’s time to finish off with a shop VAC.
2.It would be nice to have a shop VAC that had enough hose to reach all the way in the Flooded Basement and this shop VAC was the kind that had a pump in it. It makes basement drying so much faster and easier. After all the water has been vacuumed up it’s time to use big air moving fans. You’ll want to try to dry as much as possible, pull up any carpet that you might have and let the fan blow underneath of it. If it’s obvious that the carpet cannot be saved don’t waste your time tear it out and throw it away.
3.Buy yourself a moisture tester, test for moisture content in the drywall. Now if the basement was half-full of water you know you don’t have to test the drywall below or at the level of the water. The start a few inches above the water level and work your way up, see if there is any drywall that didn’t get wet. If all of the drywall did get wet, then it must all be torn out and replaced. If you stored any important papers in the basement talk to a professional about document restoration. Continuing on with the Flooded Basement, assess any other damage.
4.It’s a good idea to get a least one good size dehumidifier to finish off the Flooded Basement. Preferably run the hose from the dehumidifier to a drain to extract the water. If the water got into any electrical outlets or light switches, unless you possess the knowledge working with electricity it’s probably a good idea to hire a professional electrician. If any DVD player, television, computer or stereo system was in the water damage they can be taken to a professional for electronic restoration.
5.If none of the building materials can be salvaged and the basement has to be completely rebuilt, when framing the exterior walls make sure to install a moisture resistant barrier. Especially if you live in part of the country that has high humidity levels. You don’t want to experience another situation that would require basement drying. If you have a water heater or your washer and dryer in the Flooded Basement it might be a good idea to install moisture sensors.
The best way to face any Basement Water Damage problem is to first, do the obvious things, you know the things that are easy and least expensive. Then continue in a rational order doing the next least expensive thing with the most positive result. With a basement moisture problem, the best way to start is always to remove or control the source of the moisture in the basement. First one of these, simplest and least expensive things are to remove the excessive basement moisture sources in the basement like a possible broken pipe and ventilate other sources, like your clothes dryer.
1.The second thing to do, if you have excessive condensation, that could be a major Basement Water Damage problem, will it not ventilate properly the way a basement should? Was your basement constructed poorly, meaning, did they not use a moisture barrier? If you cannot afford to have your basement completely torn apart and reconstructed then you might try some alternatives. Dehumidification could be used as an alternative of reducing the humidity and mold damage odor in your basement, but it is not a permanent solution. As a matter of fact, if a dehumidifier is used in your basement with a chronic moisture problem, it could cause Basement Water Damage damage.
2.By drying out your basements moist air, more moisture can be drawn into your basement even more rapidly causing efflorescence and spalling of the concrete and further moisture damage to your interior materials. It is a must to solve your basements moisture problem with a protective membrane or a coating on the inside. It is less costly than a drainage system on the outside and seems to work well for a period of time in some extreme cases. But, the water is still there, however, and eventually these temporary solutions will deteriorate or simply transfer the Basement Water Damage to another location in your basement.
3.The recommended steps will be, after removing all of the interior moisture sources is to evaluate the gutter system, the downspouts, and all of your surface grading around your house. These things should be corrected initially and this could solve the Basement Water Damage problem. Then, if you’re moisture problem continues, you may proceed with an interior or exterior tile drainage system. All of these procedures are described in the remainder of this article. If your main objective is to finish off your basement that has a water problem, it is highly suggested to first deal with the water problem.
4.An active sub-slab depressurization system that includes a washed-rock layer just below the slab could be an excellent idea. This will draw the moist air from beneath the slab and probably will help to reduce the amount of the moisture vapor that permeates the home through small openings in your slab. Basement Water Damage will assist in controlling radon and other dangerous soil gases. Sump wells and other open areas to the moist soil outside of your foundation and below the homes slab must be blocked and sealed off.
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When there is a flood the ground becomes completely saturated and the water has nowhere to go and winds up in your basement. Until the floodwaters recede there is little you can do, make sure the electricity is shut off and do not enter the basement. After the water level has gone down you can then begin the Basement Flood. The key is to…
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Now that we’re in the middle of a storm season, it would be a good time to talk about what would happen if your house sustained some kind of Basement Drying. High winds associated with a tornado can be devastating, you may think that you’re one of the lucky ones, because your house is still standing and you are. But these heavy winds sometimes do strange things and they could force rainwater into your basement causing a lot of water damage.
1.If this happened to you and your basement took a lot of water, be very careful in how you deal with it. Use extra precautions remembering that water and electricity do not mix and carefully make sure the electricity is shut off. If you don’t know how to disconnect your electricity or you just don’t feel comfortable being in a situation possibly standing in water and touching electrical switches or fuses. Call your local power company see how long it will take them to come out and disconnect your power before you begin the Basement Drying.
2.If you don’t feel confident performing a Basement Drying, or maybe you don’t have the physical dexterity that it might require, there are professional water restoration companies. These companies can be hired and in most cases will be covered under your homeowners insurance. For the amount of work that they do the price could be very reasonable, especially considering that they could be working in dangerous conditions. Basement Drying water usually has bacteria already growing in it and possibly sewer water.
3.These companies would carry with them all of the proper equipment including high-volume pumps, ones that are able to handle large amounts of water. Large commercial dehydration machines, desiccants and large fans used for moving air that is saturated with water. This equipment is invaluable when it comes to Basement Drying, you couldn’t be able to do the job without them. If there is a big storm, like a tornado, there is a very good chance that you are not the only victim and the equipment from a rental store may be already exhausted, in other words already rented out.
4.Once they completely rid your Basement Drying of any standing water by the use of their pumps, extracting the water either out of your house or into a drain. They can begin to completely remove any material that is saturated, if the drywall soaked up the water they will have to remove it up to the level of the water and possibly a little farther. They will remove any carpeting that was saturated and any other household possession, taking some of your belongings to a facility where they can be completely dried and restored.
5.They will thoroughly clean and disinfect any area of your Basement Drying, scrubbing the entire basement, the floor and walls, ensuring that all bacteria has been killed, leaving your basement safe and clean. A construction company would come in and build back any part of your basement that was destroyed by the Basement Drying.
If you are not successful with cleaning your flood damaged carpet and mold and mildew occurs because you didn’t dry it quickly enough, then you should try Basement Dehumidification. Try to lift up the carpeting to get a dehumidifier underneath of it. If the foam on the back of the carpeting gets torn in this procedure, it might be possible to tear off all of the foam backing to try to salvage the carpet face. Bleaching may be used to further reduce the staining of the basement carpeting.
1.Although Basement Dehumidification will not totally ensure that it is microbe-free of mold or totally disinfected. Bleach will most likely change your carpeting’s color a little, start by mixing a solution of 1/2 cup liquid household chlorine bleach per gallon of tap water, or 2-1/2 cups of bleach, per 5 gallons of water in a bucket. You might require more or less than 5 gallons depending on the size of your basement carpeting. Remember that, at full-strength, bleach will probably dissolve most wool fibers and could irritate your skin. Also, do not use any household bleach on your wool carpeting, but instead, use some pine-oil cleaners.
2.While yourBasement Dehumidification carpeting is still damp, use a small sauce pan or measuring pitcher to dribble the bleach/water solution over just one section of the basement carpeting. Remember to wear rubber gloves to rub the solution into your basement carpet with a plastic bristle scrub brush. Let this solution set for about five minutes or so, then thoroughly rinse with your garden hose. Repeat this Basement Dehumidification process until the entire basement carpet has been treated and completely rinsed. Use a wet/dry shop vacuum cleaner to pull all of the water out of your carpet. Then, placethe still wet carpeting in full sun, gently turn the carpet over occasionally to speed the drying.
3.If you must leave yourcarpeting outside in the rain, it will not be damaged as long as it is left flat, but place the carpet in the full sun. If you turn it over every once in a while you will speed up the Basement Dehumidification time. Although, if you dry your carpeting inside your house, run the central air conditioning and the dehumidifiers to help extract all of the moisture. Industrial air moving fans also will definitely help to circulate the air, but they will not remove any of the moisture.
4.You can try to dry your carpet faster because slow drying will only lead to a sour, musty smell and mildew and mold will grow. Be sure your carpeting is completely dry before reinstalling it in your house, if at all possible, do not leave it rolled up while it’s still wet. Clean and dry your basement floors completely before putting the carpeting back into the Basement Dehumidification. Scrub your basement floors with hot water and a disinfecting detergent, then thoroughly rinse with a bleach mixture of 1/2 cup to a gallon of water.
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