Our Basement Flooded

[Basketlady]

It rained here all week. On Thursday night, we were all out at scouts or a school open house. We came home to water rushing down the street. Uh oh... DH ran around to the back yard where we knew the previous owners had drainage problems. And in spite of an extensive landscaping/drainage system put installed in July, there was a waterfall down the back steps into the well where the back door is. Into the basement. Where water was gushing. Luckily, we caught it quickly--probably within an hour or two, as DD had been down there right before dinner. But it was still a mess!

So we spent the next 6 hours hauling our worldly posessions up stairs and sucking the standing water out of the basement. We gave up about 3 am and went to bed, just to get up at 6 am and continue. I think we saved the majority of the stuff, but a mattress from the guest room got wet, along with some books and a box of photos and negatives and the XBox transformer. Luckily, most of it was unpacked (we just moved in a few weeks ago.) I had just picked up and much of the stuff was on shelves or in the storage room in Rubbermaid totes.

And the best part? My studio is on the main floor in this house. And what I had in the basement was on a raised area of the floor, so that was all dry. All that got wet was the photos and that box of books. There was a lot of the kids old toys/clothes that got wet, but I was able to dry the toys (plastic!) and just rewash the clothes. So most of that was saved! Whew!

Has anyone else experienced this? I'm looking for any advice! We pulled the carpet up and threw out the pad. The carpet is out on our driveway and the neighbor's driveway drying out. (It's a bright sunny day today!) We have 3 dehumidifiers going, along with about 6 huge fans. But the water abatement people can't come out until next week (too many others got their calls in first) and I want to minimize any mold that I can.

I have the books laying out. Unfortunately, they are my quilting books and many are older books. I'd like to save them if I can because I don't think many are in print anymore. I took each and every photo and laid them out in the living room and they actually look just fine. So I think I'm safe there. We're throwing away the mattress. But do you think the TV/XBox/DVD player are ok? They are all dry, but the surge protector that they were plugged into was underwater. I know we need a new XBox transformer, but do you think the system itself is ok?

We are still waiting to hear from our insurance company, so I'm not sure just what exactly is covered. The water came in through the doorway, not the foundation, which I guess makes a difference with insurance.

If you read this far, thanks for reading this novel. And if you have any advice, I'll take it!

[animal]

OMG Michelle that is horrible. I'm glad to hear that not too much was damaged except for the photos. We're you able to save those? I hope so.

No advice here Michelle just pure sympathy I wish you all the best of luck Hon.

[Lorie Ann]

Oh my gosh! I am glad no one was hurt and that nothing else was lost.

My Aunt's house was flooded years ago. A toilet valve burst and it caused a lot of damage. The crew came in and began to drain the water and put in special fans to dry out the walls and floors. Then someone from insurance and someone from the county came to evaluated damage and do mold testing. Everything was fine for a bit but then everyone started to get sick.

She had insurance and county come out again and sure enough mold. She was relocated to a town house for free (she had the top of the line home owners insurance with flooding added) and they stiped the majority of the house down to the studs (replaced some of those) and rebuilt.

Of course then Northridge happened and her house was severely damaged. So...it was rebuilt again.

Does the basement walls and floor have that water sealant? I guess thats supposed to be pretty good stuff.

Hope its nothing too bad and they can get it taken care of.

I'd just have county come out every month to test for mold spores. They can cause serious respitory infections.

We had some water damage upstairs in the kids rooms (they share a balcony) and we recently had county out to check for mold and its all good so far. We had some nasty rain here last year in Cali and it rainned so hard to fast that it couldnt drain off of the sloped balcony and it went into their rooms through the doors to go out to it.

[actos]

My daughter in Iowa had water from a creek come in her basement door. The only help they got was from fema. They replaced the carpet but the computers and stuff they would not help with as it had to be living space not storage and they lived on the main level. They were up all night carrying stuff out. It started at 2 AM. It was a long night for them.There homeowners insurance would not cover water that came in a door only if it came up a drain. Rules. I feel sorry for all the people up and down the coast. Wet stuff if really hard to work with. Thinking of you. Deborah

[craftygirl]

Sorry Michelle, no advice, just hugs and hope you get quick results from the insurance, etc. Maybe a Google search will help with mold prevention and testing ideas. Also to check if your electronics are safe. Good luck! So sorry you are dealing with all this!

[Basketlady]

Thanks for all the info, guys! Poor DS is worried about the XBox. It's not even a month old and we got it as a reward for all the hard work he did this summer with the move. I feel badly for him.

The guy came out from the landscaping company and promised to make it right. I'm not sure if he was talking about the house hold goods, though. I just wanted the drainage situation fixed first!

[1whoscraps]

Oh man that is the pits, so glad you caught it before it was flooded worse than what it was. No adivce just some {HUGS}

[Susan]

Michelle I'm assuming you have USAA insurance - they'll get you info FAST!! When we had our bathroom flood they ROCKED getting the right people and good people in here QUICK! I couldn't believe how fast they worked!

I'm so glad nothing was ruined that was priceless, irreplaceable! When our bathroom flooded it was "if this had gone undiscovered for 2 more hours...."

attitude is everything - and hopefully everything will be back to to 100% toot suite!!

[jenn]

Michelle,

So sorry for the mess. I have a friend who does mold testing and abatement and he advises people to NEVER resue carpeting or padding once it has been soaked like yours. You can't dry them enough to kill mold spores. As for the books dry them outside in sunlight to minimize mold.

Good luck,

Jenn

[AnnaMatrix]

Oh, Michelle, what a bummer!! To do OK through the hurricane, and then this! I'm so glad the important stuff escaped unscathed!

I have no advice to give, since (fingers crossed and knock on wood!) I've never had my house flood... Hope all gets back to normal soon! Gail

[Deleted]

Michelle, I am so sorry!

A couple of pieces of advice, having been flooded, and knowing how powerless it makes you feel, watching all that water and being entirely incapable of making it stop...

If you plan to keep the carpeting, have it professionally cleaned. This was the advice from our insurance agent (and may be from yours, as well) The professionals know how to make the carpet safe from mold and toxins. That said, you will still want to have it tested for mold, etc. for a while. (Our daughter and both of our cats were on medication for allergies for a while...the same medication/same dosage!)

Also, you will want to let the bare flooring dry out for a very long time. Our flooding was on a concrete slab, and it took nearly a month for it to be completely dry. You don't want to put carpeting down on a wet surface, or you'll definitely have a mold problem.

As for the electronic stuff, you're probably going to get some advice from folks that know about flooding (and that doesn't mean from the store that would perhaps like to sell you replacements). The idea of using flooded electronics just sounds a little doubtful, but I am NOT an electronic expert, either!

It sounds like you've gotten everything under control as much as possible.

Good thoughts and prayers are coming your way!

[midmiscrapper]

So sorry Michelle! What a thing to have happen just after moving in!! And you weren't even completely unpacked yet, right?!

I don't have advice. Basement floods are rare here in Michigan, but hugs!! Hope it all gets resolved quickly!

Pam

[Basketlady]

USAA is great insurance and we've never, ever had a problem with them in the past. But we still haven't heard from them. I filed a claim online, at about midnight Thurs night/Fri morn. I tried calling yesterday and just got an answering service. I guess they are overwhelmed, too. But really, I was looking for advice on how to save our stuff, not exact coverage answers. I've been talking to anyone with experience and Googling like crazy.

Thanks for all the advice on the mold. I'm going to make sure we get the info on how/where/who to have test for mold. I was wondering how long it would take for the basement floor to dry. It's going to be hard to be patient--I want my main level cleared out and the kids back in the basement ASAP! But I know it's important to have it done right.

My parent's basement flooded this spring. They were in Florida at the time and didn't know. It was probably like that for several days. They had to rip the drywall out, replace molding, doors, etc. I think we avoided all of that. Whew! But my brother was the one who had to deal with the clean up and he's full of advice!

I was just going through some books that I thought just got a bit wet on the edge. No luck--they aren't salvagable. I'm bummed--DD's Little House on the Praire books were hit, some American Girl stuff, and all my signed quilting books. I found a few online and will look for more tonight. But I'm geeky enough to be sad about my signed books. There's a lot of memories there.

But believe it or not, I think the XBox will be ok. For once, we actually got the extra warranty. And we never do that! But with teens and teens who are not our own children, we just wanted to be safe. And we heard there was a problem with them overheating. So one piece of good news--and $400 saved to boot!

[Cat]

Oh Michelle I'm so sorry to hear about your flooding issue. I have no advice......flooding isn't one of our worries. I hope things start to lookup for you.
If you will e-mail a list of books you need to replace (sorry about the signatures) I'll be glad to look at some of the used book-stores I go to. Some of them have some older craft/ quilting books I could check the titles on. (Most in really good condition for their age with really good prices on them) If there's anything else I can look for feel free to ask / add to the list.


Cat

[luv2scrap]

So Sorry to hear about your basement flood. I can't imagine what you must have felt. We are still unpacking from our move last year and you have just moved 2 weeks ago!!!! It would have been so overwhelming for me. Our last house was built on 8-9 feet of gravel and this home has only 1 foot of gravel but we have a sump pump so water has never been an issue even with the days of rain we had. I will be praying for you.
I hate to hear about the photo's that got wet, hopefully the negatives are still okay if you dry them and you can have them reprinted. I have a number of quilting books and supplies set aside since I no longer can quilt because of tendinitis in my hands ( I only hand quilted ). Some of my books are quite old as I received them from my Mother-in-law and they were passed down to her. It would be a small fortune to ship them to you in the U.S. or you would be welcome to them.
We have a shop vac that would help with the water in your carpet and getting any pockets of water out of your basement. Do you own your own Carpet cleaner? Ours really helps to suck up just area's of water out of the carpet when we have left windows open and been out when hard rain hits at an angle also.
When it comes to electronics I have no idea. I know we have have everything plugged into surge power bars as we need to worry about lightning even when it just hits the feed boxes in our area.
I will also pray that your insurance covers you. I know our would but each company and policy is different.

Sorry that I am really of no help to you. please keep us informed on how you make out.

[Basketlady]

Cat, what a great idea! There is a used book store here that we used all the time when we lived here before! I'll run over there tomorrow after church. Thank you!

Pam, yes--we did just move in. We have been here a month and I was actually feeling like I had most of the work done. Now I have the entire basement gutted and everything on the main level. Luckily we have a formal living room that has nothing in it. Guess where all the stuff went??

I'm feeling a little better. I just went through ebay and found each and every book there. One of them was even signed, just like my original! Some of these books go back to 1993 when I first started quilting. It's amazing that the books are still out there. And they are dirt cheap. I just need to comb through the listings and see if any are by the same seller to combine shipping.

I'll give it a few days and see how the books dry out. There are about 5-6 that are definitely losses and 5-6 that are probably ok. And another 10 or so that are iffy. I'll need to decide if they are worth replacing or just outdated. But there is one on piecing borders that is the best book I've ever owned and it's $45--USED! I guess it really is THAT good of a book!

The boys are at Best Buy right now to see if the warranty covers floods. Keep your fingers crossed!

[Basketlady]

Sept 10, 2011 18:55:13 GMT -5 luv2scrap said:

So Sorry to hear about your basement flood. I can't imagine what you must have felt. We are still unpacking from our move last year and you have just moved 2 weeks ago!!!! It would have been so overwhelming for me. Our last house was built on 8-9 feet of gravel and this home has only 1 foot of gravel but we have a sump pump so water has never been an issue even with the days of rain we had. I will be praying for you.
I hate to hear about the photo's that got wet, hopefully the negatives are still okay if you dry them and you can have them reprinted. I have a number of quilting books and supplies set aside since I no longer can quilt because of tendinitis in my hands ( I only hand quilted ). Some of my books are quite old as I received them from my Mother-in-law and they were passed down to her. It would be a small fortune to ship them to you in the U.S. or you would be welcome to them.
We have a shop vac that would help with the water in your carpet and getting any pockets of water out of your basement. Do you own your own Carpet cleaner? Ours really helps to suck up just area's of water out of the carpet when we have left windows open and been out when hard rain hits at an angle also.
When it comes to electronics I have no idea. I know we have have everything plugged into surge power bars as we need to worry about lightning even when it just hits the feed boxes in our area.
I will also pray that your insurance covers you. I know our would but each company and policy is different.

Sorry that I am really of no help to you. please keep us informed on how you make out.

That's so sweet of you to think of me and your mom's books. I think I can get what I need here--thanks to ebay. I may never call it evilbay again! I only hand quilt as well, so I bet we have some of the same books.

We have a sump pump and it was working, it just couldn't keep up with the water. The water came in through a doorway, not from the floor or the foundation. Our back door is sort of like the door in some brownstones. There is a set of steps that lead to the basement and it's all concrete/brick because it's below grade. It just became a funnel when the back yard flooded. Some areas are reporting 12 plus inches of rain this week. But I can't tell you how much rain we got here--we haven't found the rain gauge yet!

My DS spent about 3 hours with a shop vac the first night sucking the standing water out of the basement. The next day, my DH rented a steam cleaner and ran it over the carpets about 5-6 times. A contractor and crew came over this morning and pulled the carpets out of the basement. We threw the pads away and had the carpets out on the driveway to dry. They really dried out quite a bit and we will put them out again tomorrow. The pads are a loss, but I think the carpet can be salvaged with professional reinstallation and a cleaning. The carpets were installed 2 days before we moved in, so they are pristine. (Well, they WERE pristine!) But I will ask about mold.

We did have all the electronics on a surge protector. I'm just hoping that was enough!

[luv2scrap]

Sounds like you were well prepared. Do you have a drain at the bottom of your stairs to the basement? It would probably be very costly to have one installed. You will be on my prayer list.
Luckily the home we bought has a minor downgrade to every side and so between each home a little stream flows onto the road in the front. Our location is also on higher ground. My Rhubarb in the back seems to like the extra rain that gathers in its back corner spot of the backyard til it drains.

[peterpan]

Oh, Michelle, I'm so sorry to hear about your flood. I'm pretty sure I was told that water coming in under the door is not covered by regular home owners insurance and that a flood policy is needed for that. I suppose, though, it could be different in other states, etc. I wish you all the best in your recovery from this. What a pain--and brand new carpet, too...

I don't have any advice but I will say I do know people who have dropped their cell phones in the, well, toilet and were able to salvage them. The key is to make sure they are completely dry before turning them on. Hopefully, the surge protector killed the juice before any damage occurred. I didn't see if you said anything other than the plugs got wet so the cell phone story may not even be applicable. Anyway, fingers crossed for you.

Not sure there is anything I can do for you from TX other than send virtual hugs, but if you think of anything, let me know.



Christy

[Basketlady]

Well, day 4 of the flood. Thank you SO MUCH for all of your advice and good wishes. It's good to hear other ideas and a bit of sympathy, too!

We had the entire front yard covered in books, papers, chairs, carpet, etc. I was trying to get it all dried out so that I can pack it away until the basement is refurbished. What a mess. We must have looked like we were having a really bad tag sale!

Yes, there is a drain at the bottom of the steps. But it's small and the contractor said it wouldn't pass code anymore. I'm wondering why that wasn't fixed in July (we didn't do the work--it was done before we moved in.) So that will be enlarged and revamped, along with a bit of retaining wall built above the steps. Essentially, you will need to step up to go down the steps.

Still no call from USAA. I'm going to start calling bright and early tomorrow. If nothing else, I just want to know what damaged items I need to save for the claim, or if I can just take pictures and toss it. Trash day is Tuesday and I'm anxious to get rid of the wet smelly stuff!

[Karen W]

Michelle, so sorry to hear about your flood. Just as you were starting to see the end of the boxes.

Hope you can get some answers soon

Karen

[luv2scrap]

Keep us updated.

[vicki7]

just reading this. So sorry this happened. I don't have any advice, but wanted to send
Vicki

[scrappykaren]

So sorry to hear about your flooded basement! I do not have any advice either. I just hope all goes well for you with the cleanup.

[Basketlady]

Thanks again, everyone.

I talked to our USAA rep today. She was as nice as could be and so helpful. She offered money on the spot and told me to just document everything with photos and then to put it out in the trash. Tomorrow's pickup is a big one!

[joselle]

[luv2scrap]

Sept 12, 2011 21:23:58 GMT -5 Basketlady said:

Thanks again, everyone.

I talked to our USAA rep today. She was as nice as could be and so helpful. She offered money on the spot and told me to just document everything with photos and then to put it out in the trash. Tomorrow's pickup is a big one!

I am pleased they settled with you so quickly. I am still thinking of the things that money can replace but you have memories and no one can take those.

[craftygirl]

Hooray! Glad you heard good answers!

[Basketlady]

Sept 13, 2011 1:47:17 GMT -5 luv2scrap said:

I am pleased they settled with you so quickly. I am still thinking of the things that money can replace but you have memories and no one can take those.

Fortunately, I think about the only thing that is sort of "irreplacable" were my signed quilting books. I spent a lot of years with a good friend taking quilting classes from women who were famous in the business. She worked for Ginny Beyer and would often test classes for instructors and I got to tag along. That's what I remember when I pick up those books--the fun times that we had just hanging out and learning from the best. But I found them all online and I even found the most important one signed.

So I'm just going to chalk this experience up to being extremely lucky and go from there. The trash guys even took all the carpet padding and the mattress. And I'm spending today photographing books, documenting the authors and titles and then pitching them.

[AnnaMatrix]

Michelle, so glad this is getting resolved, and that you can get rid of the "smelly stuff!" It's wonderful that you could replace the quilting books! Gail