Basement is flooded- what to do?

[Anonymous]

Just went downstairs and our basement is completely flooded. Carpeted areas are soaked, uncarpeted parts have about 1-2 inches of water.

What do I do first? Who do I call?

I've checked and cleared the areas outside of the basement doors where the water is coming in from. There are drains there that don't seem to be working or just not working fast enough.

[Anonymous]

Call ServiceMaster or one of the other recovery services. Get on the list now! There will be tons of people with flooded basements.

Then get everything out you want to salvage.

[Anonymous]

Can you borrow a wet-vac (shop vac) from a neighbor? If you are on a listserve-- try putting out a request.

Or go by one from Home Depot? You might also consider using a de-humidifier.

Search DCUM about who to call-- we basement etc, for suggestions on who to call.

Sorry this happened--have been there. Good luck.

[Anonymous]

- Call your plumber: he can suck the water out and help with the drains.

Try to fix the drains as soon as possible: put a hose in them, turn on the water (away from the basement) and try to flush them out. Pull out the leaves, debris with gloved hands.

Pull the carpet away from the wall if you can. Start a fan BUT only if there is a way to ensure no electrocution. Better to do nothing electric than to risk that.

Key is to get this attended to before any basement furnace or other mechanical occurs.

[Anonymous]

Google Water Clean Up.

Seriously, call now. Otherwise you will have to wait days to get anyone out. This area is going to have all kinds of water problems the next few days.

[Anonymous]

get a wet vac asap, Rent or buy a dehumidifer (we have one running all the time in our basement). get rid of wet carpet and dry everything off so you don't get mold.

get your drainage inspected and fixed.

[Anonymous]

Take pictures and call your agent, if you are going to make a flood claim on your insurance. (Do you have flood insurance? Most people don't.)

Get a pump or shop-vac to take out any water.

Pull out the carpet and throw it away.

Pull out anything that is wet and dry it or throw it away, including fixtures.

Pull out any wet drywall and throw it away.

Check your furnace and water pump to see if it's sitting in water.

Open the doors and windows to dry it out, but don't use any fans. Fans will push air with mold and bacteria
into the rest of the house. If you have access to a HEPA filter or HEPA vac, use that.

Wash the remaining concrete down with biocide. Wear a HEPA mask, gloves and boots when you do it.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Take pictures and call your agent, if you are going to make a flood claim on your insurance. (Do you have flood insurance? Most people don't.)

Flood insurance doesn't cover many things in the basement. From FloodSmart.gov:

What is covered in my basement?
Flood insurance covers your home's foundation elements and equipment that's necessary to support the structure (for example: furnace, water heaters, circuit breakers, etc.).

It's important to note that some items in your basement are covered under building coverage (like a furnace, hot water heater and circuit breaker) and others are covered under contents coverage that must be purchased in addition to building coverage (for example, your washer and dryer, or your freezer and the food in it).

The NFIP encourages people to purchase both building and contents coverage. Flood insurance does not cover basement improvements, such as finished walls, floors, ceilings or personal belongings that may be kept in a basement.

[Anonymous]

Call ServiceMaster. NOW.

[Anonymous]

Sorry, OP -- this happened to us last year right after we moved into our new house. We got several big rains in the spring/early summer. I remember being really pissed about spending a Friday night in the basement, each of us with a wet vac.

Our problem was two-fold -- downspout was clogged, and the slope of the patio was all wrong.

We cleaned up the water each time, set up fans, and ran a dehumidifier. Luckily there wasn't any permanent damage.

Good luck.

[Anonymous]

ServPro ?

[Anonymous]

Thanks all. ServPro is on their way right now. Took some pics and a video to document and am trying to salvage some boxed items from the storage room.


I'm a first time home owner so your advice has been great!

[Anonymous]

This is a good time to remind everyone who has sump pumps to check to be sure they are operating. Ours is filling and pumping as fast as it can. knock on wood - dry basement.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Take pictures and call your agent, if you are going to make a flood claim on your insurance. (Do you have flood insurance? Most people don't.)

Flood insurance doesn't cover many things in the basement. From FloodSmart.gov:

What is covered in my basement?
Flood insurance covers your home's foundation elements and equipment that's necessary to support the structure (for example: furnace, water heaters, circuit breakers, etc.).

It's important to note that some items in your basement are covered under building coverage (like a furnace, hot water heater and circuit breaker) and others are covered under contents coverage that must be purchased in addition to building coverage (for example, your washer and dryer, or your freezer and the food in it).

The NFIP encourages people to purchase both building and contents coverage. Flood insurance does not cover basement improvements, such as finished walls, floors, ceilings or personal belongings that may be kept in a basement.

Flood insurance does cover water removal, so if you call servicemaster or the like it will be covered. They will rip out wet carpet, wet drywall, and leave industrial strength fans and dehumidifiers for 48 hours or so. Flood insurance also covered replacement of drywall. We had to pay out of pocket for new carpet.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:This is a good time to remind everyone who has sump pumps to check to be sure they are operating. Ours is filling and pumping as fast as it can. knock on wood - dry basement.

We recently got a sump pump back up battery in case of loss of electricity (happens a lot by us). It cost $700 I think, and I'm noticeably more relaxed because of it. Our sump is cycling fast too (our older sump allowed more water accumulation in the pit before turning on).