Flooded Basement

[Amy L.]

Today I found my basement flooded. I found the float switch to be bad and replaced it. I had around 4 inches across the whole floor. The basement is not finished and is all concrete. I am very concerned about mold now. Pretty much everything on the floor was in plastic containers so they will be easy to wipe down. However, I had a sauter entertainment center and another book shelf that got wet. Do I need to throw them out or can they be salvaged? The floor has several coats of Dry Loc paint. What do I need to do to make sure that the basement does not get "musty" or moldy?

Amy

[andynewhouse]

Get a dehumidifier if you don't have one already - this won't solve all your problems, but it sure will help. One of my friends who had a basement flood got a good-quality (~$300) ozone air cleaner, and he says it made a big difference with his mold problem. However, in high concentrations, ozone isn't good for you, so keep your basement closed while you use it. If your entertainment center and bookshelf are solid wood, and they still look OK, they should be fine once they dry thoroughly. If they're MDF or chipboard or some other manufactured wood product, they're probably shot. Unless you want to cut off the bottom 6" and just have a shorter bookshelf... Andy

[Chris Lewis]

According to :

Amy said "Sauter". I think she meant "Sauder" - very large US "kit furniture" manufacturer. It's fairly nice stuff ... for MDF ...

If she's managed to drain the floor real fast, and put fans and/or humidifiers around it, she might be able to save it because MDF is somewhat more resistant to moisture than particle board and the facing is reasonably good quality.

I rather doubt it but it won't hurt to try.

[maradcliff]

What caused the flood? Explain. If clean rain water, just use mops and fans dehumidifiers to dry ASAP. If sewerage waterm you need to bleach the whole thing and wash it with a hose. The ent center is probably particle board. It's probably trash. However, if you dry it immediately it could survive, (sit it on a heat register).

[m Ransley]

Get a dehumidifier,if basement is apx 65 or below get one rated for colder temps, normal ones will freeze up, below 65. Use a 50 50 mix of bleach and water to wash everything to kill mold. Forget an Ozone machine unless you move out for a day or open windows after as ozone is no good for you. use fansa and circulate air. If you dry it quick all will be ok, so why did it flood so fast.

[buffalobill]

one cup of bleach per gallon of water. retreat as mold may reappear as needed. remember there is no residual action. read all about mold at

[trader4]

Mold doesn't grow instantly. If you follow the advice to use fans and/or a dehumidifier you should not have a mold problem. I'd go with the dehumidifier, unless the outside air is a suitable temp and low humidity and you can easily get a lot of it moving through the basement.

[Joseph Meehan]

Get it dry quickly and no problem. Fans heat and dehumidifiers all can help.

[amyl]

The flood was caused by a failed float switch on the sump pump. It was outside rain water (run-off). Was probably caught pretty quick. It wasnt flooded the night before and I found it after work ~ 18 hours of last being down in the basement.

Amy

[amyl]

I have a nice dehumidifier and it has been running since I drained all of the water out. I am going to run it for the next couple of days. So far I have no mold but its been less than 24 hours and I am not sure how fast mold grows. What I can say is the dehumidifier is spitting out water at a fairly good rate.

Amy

[Beer Guess]

My basement was flooded w/ 2" of water during the huricane Isabel 2 years ago. I pumped out water two days after the flood. I opened the basement windows for a couple of days, and used 2 fans.

Well. I got those musty smell for over 2 years, even after I finished the basement this spring. I guess part of the reason is that my basement humidity often gets over 80% during summer, and I do not use a dehumidifier. I always thought that musty smell was normal for a basement, as there are worse basements I visited. I did find there were a few black spots on some joists in the basement.

I bought a Sears dehumidifier this summer, and set the humidity at 60%. I found the musty smell is gone this fall. So I would say at least mould is deactivated now, and I would not really concerned about it.

[m Ransley]

The spores are there , using a garden sprayer with bleach and water mix will kill them I would not dilute more than 50%. You will stop them from spreading through the house, although its not serious at all its just good to know you have killed it, and next time it will take alot longer to grow.

[Goedjn]

And mothballs. The benzene derivitive in mothballs that drives off moths and small nimals and causes cancer in humans also inhibits mold and mildew growth.

[maradcliff]

OK, you are not at any serious risk of health issues as long as its just rain water. Like everyone said run the fans and dehumidifiers. Remove all the wet stuff too, thats what will mold. Cement wont. Be sure to fix the sump pump too.

You do know they sell water alerts that sense when you are flooding. I have never seen one, but I think they just sit on the floor and alarm when they get wet. Might be something to check on. Of course a spare sump pump works too. Set the float higher on the second one. I have done it, it works great. However be sure to unplug the main one every so often so the secondary one dont sieze up from lack of use. You can TEE the pipes, or use 2 pipes to the outside. If you tee them, put one way valves in between the tee and pumps. You dont want both running at the same time.