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[url=https://www.facebook.com/SueAggie93?fref=nf][/url]Friends. I have been to school for water damage/remediation.
Rising water is anything from just dampness to 'feet' of water....that comes the from outside into your home.
Rising water is bad. It has contaminants, urine, feces, fertilizers, pesticides, health hazards, possibly hepatitis, e-coli, etc... The list is long. Everything.... EVERYTHING that comes into contact with this, must be removed and disposed of..... Carpet, pad, sheetrock, baseboards, insulation, furniture, cabinets, and anything that absorbs the water...back to bare studs...and treated and dried. Must be tested with a moisture meter, before rebuilding.
Any other water can be dried, ( blowing rain, roof leaks, pipe breaks, etc) but ONLY if remediation started within three days.. otherwise, it starts smelling from microbial growth and is considered harmful and refer to above paragraph.
Please refer to fema.gov for more detailed information.
Please protect yourself with gloves, rubber boots, etc. And stay away from any electrical sources.
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1) If you have not flooded yet, put pots and pans under the four legs of your table. If the water is only a few inches, the table will come through unscathed.
2) Anything in your house that's been thoroughly touched by flood water is compromised and has to go. There's no telling what was in the water and there's no amount of bleach that can make it safe enough to stay in your house.
3) Your mattress will float. Put stuff on it if you need too.
4) Triple check the measurements and quantities that the insurance adjuster has on you proof of loss.
5) On your home A/Cs:
If your outside unit (the Condenser) goes under, your insurance (hopefully you have it) is obliged to pay for replacement of it. It may still work although it's long-term usefulness is compromised. After the Condenser is completely no longer in flood water and you have electrical service, give it a try. If you can use it to dehumidify the interior of the house more quickly, do it. Set them to as low as they will go and let them eat.
6) Go through each room and take pictures, plenty of them.
7) Even if you don't flood, have your home sprayed for pests as soon as the waters recede. Bugs head for high ground just like the rest of us.
8) Don't forget to put tools up high with your valuables! You'll need them later.
9) Bring something to cut yourself out of the attic if you have to go there. Also try not to fall asleep in the attic.
10) Beware of the predators preying on your struggles. Everyone will come at you from cleaning crews to drywall contractors. Unless you are handicap or elderly, demo your house yourself. Those guys wanted to charge me $6000 for stuff I did myself. You're gonna need that 6000-9000 savings. Dehumidifiers will be hard to come by. You'll need one or two to pull all the moisture out of your house. Order them now online or be the first one in line when Home Depot or Lowes open. If you have to wait on shipments to come in, you're gonna be waiting a few weeks and it will be cheap junk. Bleach is not the best way to kill mold as it only treats the surface. Buy the good stuff made to kill mold, it soakes into the wood and lasts longer. That's all I used and I have not had one single problem.
The best advice I can give you is this. Everyday just do something. Eventually you'll see progress. It took us 8 months to get our 1500sq ft house back 100%. It's not a sprint, it's a marathon.
11) Don't go back home without a couple of dehumidifiers in tow.
This may help for Electrical safety:f burg ag said:
This will be the first time my house was flooded. From what I hear, we should expect 2-6 inches to have been in our house. What is some guidance on how to be safe? when it is OK to turn on breaker, etc..?
Sorry if it has been covered, I did not see a related topic at first glance.
If it is standing water, I wouldn't even trust rubber boots.Quote:
The Safe Electricity website gives a list of 5 measures to bear in mind when it comes to electricity and flooding:
[ol]Never step into a flooded basement or other room if water may be in contact with electrical outlets, appliances or cords. Never attempt to turn off power at the breaker box if you must stand in water to do so. If you can't reach your breaker box safely, call your electric utility to shut off power at the meter. Never use electric appliances or touch electric wires, switches or fuses when you're wet or when you're standing in water. Keep electric tools and equipment at least 10 feet away from wet surfaces. Do not use electric yard tools if it's raining or the ground is wet. If an electrical appliance has been in contact with water, have a professional check it out before it is used. It may need to be repaired or replaced. [/ol]
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Some steps to recovering a flooded home:
1. Turn off the electricity at your main disconnect
2. Make a photographic record of everything
3. Find a high water mark. Photograph it. Mark it with paint or marker. Measure the height above the floor. Mark that too. Photograph the mark with a tape measure in front of it. Don't tear out the mark. (Doing this on a cabinet is a good spot. You are doing this for insurance, whether or not you have flood insurance. It also tells you how much electrical work you may have to do)
4. Remove lower drywall all over the ground floor. Make a knife cut 3'-10" above the floor. Rip off everything below that. Pull out the insulation to that height. (Later, a cleaner cut can be made at 4' and a full sheet of drywall installed)
5. Haul out everything that was under water. List it and photograph it all.
6. Only now, start shoveling out the mud and muck.
7. Now get rid of all submerged carpets and pads. With a knife, cut carpets into about 18" strips, so they will be light enough to handle. Remove all the tack strips to avoid future injuries.
8. Refrigerators and freezers are toast. Photograph them and their contents. Then close them up and duct tape or otherwise fix shut (This is to keep kids and varmints out). Move to the curb. There will eventually be a government plan to pick up and dispose of these hazmats)
9. Keep windows and doors open as much as possible to try to dry things out and avoid a mold takeover.
10. With standing water gone, and floors dried, it may now be safe to turn your electrical service back on. Turn off all circuit breakers (or remove fuses). Turn the main breaker on. Turn on each circuit, one at a time. If the breaker pops, leave that circuit dead.
11. If you have electricity and some fans, run fans 24/7, to help with drying.
12. Check/repair screens. The mosquitoes will be out in force after two weeks.
13. Follow government advice about water, gas, sewage. You may need to dig a latrine and use it for awhile. Do that downslope and away from the house.
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I have a little public service announcement. I mentioned that I had two neighbors that lost vision in three eyes between them from the flood remediation last year and infections. I have not had time to verify this but I trust the source (his wife): one is in the hospital now and his wife says the doctors are now saying his infection is from a tick!? He is blind in both eyes right now and they are talking about spinal taps.
I will try to update with more/better information and this sounds ridiculous, but my point in posting incomplete information is simply this:
flood remediation is the nastiest, slimiest work you will ever see, full of hidden holes and broken boards,nails, sharp corners, heat, and bugs.
Tips I learned last year are:
always zip lock bag your phone and wallet. And key fobs.
Never wipe your eyes or face with muck-covered anything. You will be sweating profusely and it will be tempting to wipe your eyes clear all the time. Keep fresh bottled water and use it not only for drinking but also washing your face and any cuts or scrapes. Keep hydrogen peroxide and Neosporin or equivalent with you at all times and use it on any wounds that break the skin.
Use lots of bug spray. 'Swampgnat ' works better than 'off' in our area as the gnats are even worse than mosquitos. I never though about ticks until hearing about Ralf now.
Biting insects have been biting dying, soaked, skin rotted infected animals for a long time at this point. This isn't a convenience item.
I always keep a real first aid kit in the truck and went into it a couple of times last year.
Wear good quality muck boots with tall socks (over your ankles or they will blister badly). Take extra socks, as after the second day of sweat soaked feet you will start to blister and I can see how the stories of soldiers and foot rot happens quickly.
Get lots of thick work gloves and rotate them often. If you can find surgical gloves use them inside the thick ones. They all get so slimy so quickly sometimes it feels good to swap out.
Fishing shirts and cargo pants are stylish.
(Seriously though, if you are in a remote area you want most of this stuff ON YOU, and the pockets are critical).
I also keep a gun (air weight .38, none of the pocket autos will work in this soaked, muddy environment). l once saw looters coming up to our area in a boat from the river side...but really the gun is more for freaked out critters - when raccoons attack!
I also keep a knife on me at all times. You will find more uses than you can imagine. One with a fishing line catch is good as I used that cutter a lot.
You will also find things you want to keep, so again, pockets = good).
Finally, cotton undies...no bueno. Wear the slick workout jobs or your parts will punish you.
Good luck out there.
Good news for most is the rain water floods have much less muck. River water is just slimy as hell.
