Anonymous wrote:If it is sheetrock or wood, yes, mold remediation would be a good idea but mostly that just involves high-powered fans and bleach.

If it's all cement/masonry, don't worry about it, but the above couldn't hurt.

This.
If you have drywall, just drill some holes and spray in some Clorox bleach into it. Run the fan and leave for couple of hours. It will knock it right out. We did this at our last house. The mold was gone in a day.

THANK YOU! I'll send DH to get a dehumidifier tonight too. Maybe sump pump??

Phew. Feel like this isn't quite as overwhelming.

My DH noticed a lot of water pooling outside of the house near the foundation last night - we will get the gutters checked too?

Anonymous wrote:17:04 again. I missed your remark about the slight mustiness. That's because of the recurring dampness, and could indicate mold problems cropping up. I think you need to look into why the basement is getting wet repeatedly and remedy that. Our basement doesn't routinely get damp or have any mustiness. Our floods happened because we're in a low area, and we had exceptionally high rainfall (6+ inches in a day) in very wet years and drainage problems in our yard, which we've fixed.

Dehumidifier. Do find out where it is coming from - if there are holes in the wall, you can patch with hydraulic cement. Or, you may need a sump pump.

Anonymous wrote:17:18 here: Yes you should get rid of any boxes that got even a little bit wet. Right away. And dry out the contents ASAP, preferably outdoors in sun, sunshine kills mold/mildew.

This too - we have everything in plastic bins and I have them sitting on a 2x4 to be safe.

Anonymous wrote:We had two basement floods over the 30+ years in our house, and we did not get any special mold remediation. We did wash the floors afterwards with a bleach/water solution, and made sure it was dry by ventilating well for days afterwards. We don't have any mold problems now. I think it will depend on how high the water got and what it may have gotten into. We don't have any drywall in our basement.

Do this - get at least one, depending on the size 2 dehumidifiers too and run them (you should probably have one down there anyway). I think the bigger issue is when it is finished - drywall, studs, insulation that cannot get wet. If it is just concrete and walls, not big deal, just wash and find the problem and fix it. Make sure you have 6 inch gutters that run away from the house and are clean. Also, find ways to divert the water away from the house. We fixed ours DIY, no issues since.

Ok. I think the rest are dry but I'll go through them again tonight.

Thank you - this whole experience has been stressful. Mostly because I didn't know what we we supposed to do. Thanks again!

17:18 here: Yes you should get rid of any boxes that got even a little bit wet. Right away. And dry out the contents ASAP, preferably outdoors in sun, sunshine kills mold/mildew.

Anonymous wrote:Cement, masonry. And lots of boxes - all that remain are up off the floor. Should I take all of the boxes out? Ugh.

As long as they are completely dry, they can stay.

17:04 again. I missed your remark about the slight mustiness. That's because of the recurring dampness, and could indicate mold problems cropping up. I think you need to look into why the basement is getting wet repeatedly and remedy that. Our basement doesn't routinely get damp or have any mustiness. Our floods happened because we're in a low area, and we had exceptionally high rainfall (6+ inches in a day) in very wet years and drainage problems in our yard, which we've fixed.

Cement, masonry. And lots of boxes - all that remain are up off the floor. Should I take all of the boxes out? Ugh.

If it is sheetrock or wood, yes, mold remediation would be a good idea but mostly that just involves high-powered fans and bleach.

If it's all cement/masonry, don't worry about it, but the above couldn't hurt.

Thank you! I will try to wash it down with bleach as soon as I can.

We had two basement floods over the 30+ years in our house, and we did not get any special mold remediation. We did wash the floors afterwards with a bleach/water solution, and made sure it was dry by ventilating well for days afterwards. We don't have any mold problems now. I think it will depend on how high the water got and what it may have gotten into. We don't have any drywall in our basement.

We just moved in last year and last night was the first time we has significant water in the unfinished basement. There is usually some dampness after a big storm, but last night was A LOT of water puddling up on the floor. We are airing it all out now and removed any wet boxes. But my co-worker just said we need to get a mold remediation company down there ASAP. Is this true? Will we end up with a moldy basement - or house - if we don't call them in? Everything is almost dry already. Before this the basement was very mildly musty. Not in a bad way. My mother has mold allergies and never had a problem down there before.

Ugh!! I'm ready to move back into our condo!