If she's pregnant, the further away from this kind of stuff the better
- looks like you'll be doing this one, Chief - keep her away... ;-)

The mold smell can lead to dangerous air quality situations too so
best get going with the bleach/water solution once you have the water
problems under control. If you have windows in your basement, stick a
fan at one end blowing OUT and open your other windows in the basement
- otherwise, just leaving windows open without the proper assistance
of a fan, will lead to a LONG hoping period. Most people turn the
fans IN and you don't get near the ventilation doing that - you want
it blowing OUT.

What would it take to seal the basement better and avoid having to
purchase a generator for power outages? Pump motors are generally
fairly heavy loads so I wouldn't rely on batteries - I'd be looking
for a generator unless you can seal off your basement better. You DO
have something growing, hence the smell so best get after it...

Regarding your untreated 2x4s - they need to be coated or they won't
last long. A water sealer like Thompsons or primed and painted would
do. Otherwise, the weather's going to ruin your investment.

On 24 Aug 2005 23:27:26 -0700, "69strat" wrote:

My wife and I ended up getting water in our basement twice this season
because the sump pump couldn't run with a power outage during heavy
rains. Only about .25" of rain, but enough to cover the whole basement.

we threw most of what got wet out. But I recently realized we missed a
few things. I threw them out and noticed there is a couple greenish
looking marks on the concrete floor where the items sat. Kinda looks
like it could've been drawn with a pen or crayon. Could this fungus of
some kind.

I had the AC running and two dehumidifiers running nonstop. It's very
cool and dry the last couple of days so I have the windows open in the
basement. the smell isn't as bad but it's still there.

I am reading that I should use a mixture of bleach/water to clean the
floor. My wife is eight months pregnant and we don't want those fumes.
Is there something else that's safe or will simply airing it out do
the trick of getting rid of all the smell?