Basement flooding

[C & E]

We're in the East coast heavy rain belt and yesterday morning I vacuumed out

80 gallons - about the worst it has ever been for our home - mush worse for others. My wife spent the day vac'ing the indoor/outdoor carpet down there and we have kept fans on as well as the HVAC fan on constantly with the A/C on. I was disappointed that it wasn't more dry this morning but it'still raining here. Not a good scenario for drying. Do you think that it would be any help to turn on the baseboard electric heat down there to try to alter the relative humidity and get some of the moisture into the air and circulating throught the A/C system for dehumidification? Just a thought but probably not a good one. Opinions please.

[professorpaul]

I had a basement/rec room flood out some years ago... burst pipe. I vacuumed up as much as I could, and did turn on the baseboard heaters, as well as every fan I could lay my hands on. I was more concerned about mildew than anything else, and wanted to get the moisture out as quickly as possible. It worked just fine. I had maybe 1" of water on the floor.

[Banty]

BTDT two things:

1. Take the carpet up and get it out of the house. If you don't have a place to dry it out pretty much immediately (or even if you do, it may be too late), it will deteriorate and harbor molds even if it's "indoor/outdoor".

1. I know it's a lot of rain lately, but see if you can address why water is getting into your basement. Don't just write it off as an unusual event; it'll happen again and your use of the space will be compromised anyway. So, if the gutters work and the grading of your lot is correct, you should look into adding drainage either exterior or interior.

Banty

[C & E]

The reason for the water, Banty, is that I forgot to clean the gutters this spring and they had accumulated a lot of maple seeds. I got it done in the fall but this one got by me. I feel pretty stupid about it. I wa considering one of those gutter guard solutions but the nationally advertised one priced out that I could pay someone to clean my gutters twice a year for the next 30 years. Others just don't look like they would even work and that's too expensive to risk a bet. I'll just keep cleaning - if I remember - DOH!!

[Banty]

Ah ha - them "helicopters" are worse than fall leaves by far - they ball up and block everything! BTDT.

I'd still think of what else could be done - clearly much the roof drainage went straight down your foundation.

Banty

[hallerb]

The cost of doing nothing about clogged gutters is high, carpet mold and other damage.

Do the gutter guard to prevent a reoccurence, and look into foundation drains too.

fix this so it cant happen again increases resale value

[PSZach]

A bi-product of air conditioning is condensation, which is moisture from the air converted to liquid.

You may want to evaluate the cost of operating your A/C system for the purposes of capturing random humidity verses hiring specialist equipped with appropriate Water Damage Restoration equipment.

[mrsgator88]

I use plasitc mesh that just slides into place. I have LOTS of trees around my house, so I have to yank 'em out once or twice a year to clean the little that gets through. Worth considering...

S

[mrsgator88]

Heat and AC? I dunno... what's worked for me is to shut the windows, run a fan, and run a dehumidifier. Maybe 2 if necessary.

S

[hallerb]

Close windows, turn heat to 90, leave a couple windows cracked open a couple inches to vent the moisture.

This is the fastest way to dry the place.

The higher temp drives the moisture into the air, you could run a dehudifier too.

Ever scrub carpets and run AC to dry things? Carpet stays moist for days.

Heat and dehumidify is how water restoration people handle things

[trader4]

I'd go with using the AC over heat. If you get in a car with wet close on when it's been raining, the windows fog up. Turning on the AC is the fastest way to get that moisture out. Turning on the heat takes a lot longer and makes the whole thing a lot worse first. I'd do the same with the basement, or rent/buy a dehumidifier

[Stormin Mormon]

One problem is that the AC systems I've serviced generally don't circulate air through the cellar. You may have to temporarily take a couple of the vent ducts apart, so that the air circulates through the cellar.

Years ago, I knew a maintenance guy for a hotel. He'd get calls now and again for an AC leak soaking the carpet of a guest room. He'd go in with a shop vac, and set the vac in the room. Lean the wand against the machine, so it was self supporting. You could tell by the sound change of the motor that it had a good seal to the floor. Leave the vac running, and come back half hour later. I thought he was just lazy, but he said that really did remove a LOT of water.

Good luck. I'm sure plenty of other folks want the same answer. Please let us know what works for you.

[C & E]

Here's the latest if anyone is still watching the thread. The biggest change occurred when the outside humidity dropped below 80% and we were done with our 10" of rainfall. Turning on the heat had moisture condensing on everything - not badly but slightly damp. We have a couple of dehumidifiers working non-stop. Like I said, when the ouside humidiy broke we opened a basement door and stationed a box fan there. I opened the door to the upstairs and drew air down to the basement. Apparently, the return circuit from the basement was insufficient to affect a change. Things are feeling pretty good but I'm continuing the fans and dehumdifiers for the remainder of the week. Thanks to all for the comments and suggestions on permanancy of repairs. Corrections are in motion. I wish I could get a straight answer on some of those fancy gutter guards that divert leaves but capture the water.