What To Do About a Flooded Basement
- By Eli Weinstock
- Aug 20, 2019
We discussed waterproofing your home in a previous blog post. What happens if you did not take the precautionary steps to waterproof your home and your basement is flooded? Many homeowners put a lot of time and energy into their homes. Imagine the feeling one would have returning home to find a flooded basement. The feeling of frustration is overwhelming to see belongings submerged under water in your property. The best thing to do is to be prepared for a situation where there is bad weather or unexpected circumstances. Installing a sump pump will stop water from entering your basement during a bad storm. The process to remove water can be time consuming and stressful. Here are a few tips to addressing a flooded basement:
Save the Floor
If you have wood floors this can be a big problem with water damage. Floorboards and other wood textures can take a long time to dry out after a flood. Hopefully you can open a few windows to circulate fresh air into the basement and allow the moisture to escape the room. It may be tough but you will need to give the wood floors time to completely air out.
If your basement is covered with carpeting or rugs, you will have to clean them separately. Clean your rugs outside with a hose and bleach. This should eliminate any lingering odors. The flooding could have more of an effect on rugs and it is probably better to replace then to clean them.
A low level sump pump that can assist you is the Tsurumi LSC or Tsurumi LSR sump pumps that can pump directly off a flat floor level.
Document the damage
Maintaining accurate information for the damage done is important to pass on to insurance companies. Many insurance companies will look for specific details on the exact amount of damage done to a home especially if there is a large claim involved. Assess the damage and document everything with supporting evidence such as photos and videotape.
Remove the Water
Use a Tsurumi LSC sump pump or Tsurumi LSR sump pump to remove the excess water by attaching a Goodyear 2" x 50' collapsable hose to serve as an outlet for the water being removed. If the water level is deep, use caution before proceeding and do not attempt to clean the basement on your own. Suck up the remaining water working all parts of the basement. To speed this process up, open the windows and use a fan to increase the drying process. Pay attention and make sure you do not have any electrical wires in the basement where you can get electrocuted.
To find out more about the Tsurumi LSC, click here.
To find out more about the Tsurumi LSR, click here.
Photo Credit: Basement Dehumidifier
If your basement is covered with carpeting or rugs, you will have to clean them separately. Clean your rugs outside with a hose and bleach. This should eliminate any lingering odors. The flooding could have more of an effect on rugs and it is probably better to replace then to clean them.
A low level sump pump that can assist you is the Tsurumi LSC or Tsurumi LSR sump pumps that can pump directly off a flat floor level.
Document the damage
Maintaining accurate information for the damage done is important to pass on to insurance companies. Many insurance companies will look for specific details on the exact amount of damage done to a home especially if there is a large claim involved. Assess the damage and document everything with supporting evidence such as photos and videotape.
Remove the Water
Use a Tsurumi LSC sump pump or Tsurumi LSR sump pump to remove the excess water by attaching a Goodyear 2" x 50' collapsable hose to serve as an outlet for the water being removed. If the water level is deep, use caution before proceeding and do not attempt to clean the basement on your own. Suck up the remaining water working all parts of the basement. To speed this process up, open the windows and use a fan to increase the drying process. Pay attention and make sure you do not have any electrical wires in the basement where you can get electrocuted.
To find out more about the Tsurumi LSC, click here.
To find out more about the Tsurumi LSR, click here.
Photo Credit: Basement Dehumidifier
