Smelly apartment after a flood

[Angela St.Aubin]

Hi everyone, I need your help!

2 nights ago, a pipe in my apartment burst and flooded my apartment in several inches of water. Everything is mostly dry now, but the apartment stinks like you wouldn't believe. any hints on how to get the mouldy wet smells out? I have half carpet half floors. It is really humid out and very hot, and raining on and off, so i have the windows closed and the AC on. I also have cats, so the bathroom smells the worst, where the water mingled with cat food and litter. I cant breathe in here, but I have nowhere to escape to, please help!

[Vox Humana]

Your landlord should be addressing this. The carpet probably needs to be removed along with the padding. Water probably penetrated into the wall cavities and no doubt wicked into the wallboard. Of course, the contents are your responsibility. If you have renter's insurance, you should contact you agent to see what coverage might be available.

The problem is that there is water in places you can't see. If not dried properly, you will have mold. The mold could be a health hazard. If I were you, I would also contact the local building inspector/code enforcement office to see what they have to say. You might also call the city/county health department.

You should contact your landlord ASAP and follow up with a written notice. The landlord is required to provide a safe and sanitary apartment so at the very least, you should not have to pay rent while your apartment is not inhabitable. I would ask for compensation. If you get any resistance, contact an attorney immediately.

[Phisherman]

[Rox]

I'd definitely remove all carpeting, wash whatever I could down with a diluted bleach solution, and dehumidify. Give the weather where you are opening windows just won't help. The AC is probably helping you out a little, that does take some moisture out of the air. The landlord should pick up the bill so keep all receipts.

Any repairs he needs to make to fix your apartment are a tax write off for him (only give him your receipts AFTER he's reimbursed you--he'll need those receipts for his taxes). Don't be shy asking for the repair.

[Angela St.Aubin]

[Angela St.Aubin]

[Angela St.Aubin]

I bought some baking soda to use with the vacume, as well as some vacume free foam stuff that you leave on. I am afraid I will just mask the smell/mold. Any ideas on which to do first? The carpet itself is dry, but all the edges and spaces around walls are wet, should I wait til they are dry too, before doing anything?

[Vox Humana]

[Tracey]

[Angela St.Aubin]

[Angela St.Aubin]

----- Original Message ----- From: "Tracey" Newsgroups: alt.home.cleaning Sent: Monday, July 18, 2005 7:48 PM Subject: Re: Smelly apartment after a flood

I live in a very small town, we do not have a health department. Maybe I will call town hall tomorrow and see if they know of the local equivalent. I am afraid to do anything to piss the landlords off, i dont want to be evicted, or have my rent raised or something. i have heard too many horror stories about this sort of thing, and the laws favour landlords, not tenants. i wish there was a free service that could come, tell me in writing there is mold, then i could go to the landlord, but they are totally downplaying everything.

[Phisherman]

[Tracey]

[Vox Humana]

Well, then if you don't want to have the landlord take care of the problem and you can't take care of it, you have reached a dead-end. If you had several inches of water in the apartment there is no way that it will dry out and be a satisfactory place to live. I would be looking for another apartment, but I'm sure you will respond with a reason you can't or won't. This thread has reminded me that I misplaced my can of Troll-Be-Gone.

[Angela St.Aubin]

[Vox Humana]

[Dawn]

[Sweep]

[Rox]

Where do you live? The law favors tenants not landlords. And there has to be a Dept of Health or it's equivalent, if not in your town then on a regional level.

[Rox]