Hello,
Lots of water in the basement due to the NE floods. RI got creamed. I
ripped down the sheetrock, took up the subfloor and laminate. All in a
dumpster now. Fans and dehumidifier are running. I am going to rebuild the
basement.

How long do I need to wait until I can begin rebuilding? I was thinking at
least a few months to ensure everything is really dry. (wood studs down
there)

Thanks for your time.

On Apr 7, 8:03*am, "Jack" wrote:
Hello,
Lots of water in the basement due to the NE floods. *RI got creamed. *I
ripped down the sheetrock, took up the subfloor and laminate. *All in a
dumpster now. *Fans and dehumidifier are running. *I am going to rebuild the
basement.

How long do I need to wait until I can begin rebuilding? *I was thinking at
least a few months to ensure everything is really dry. (wood studs down
there)

Thanks for your time.

If your going to rebuild, you should protect yourself for next time by
putting in a French drain, otherwise you'll be ripping it out again.

Thanks for your time.

If your going to rebuild, you should protect yourself for next time by
putting in a French drain, otherwise you'll be ripping it out again.

YES, but if victim lives in a flood plain where water came in door a
french drain wouldnt help.

if french drain is installed drain to daylight if at all possible or
add a standby sump pump for backup with SEPERATE drain line

Mikepier wrote the following:
On Apr 7, 8:03 am, "Jack" wrote:

Hello,
Lots of water in the basement due to the NE floods. RI got creamed. I
ripped down the sheetrock, took up the subfloor and laminate. All in a
dumpster now. Fans and dehumidifier are running. I am going to rebuild the
basement.

How long do I need to wait until I can begin rebuilding? I was thinking at
least a few months to ensure everything is really dry. (wood studs down
there)

Thanks for your time.


If your going to rebuild, you should protect yourself for next time by
putting in a French drain, otherwise you'll be ripping it out again.


That's OK for the occasional heavy rain and a leaky basement, but when
the flood water level is above the ground, a french drain is useless.

--

Bill
In Hamptonburgh, NY
In the original Orange County. Est. 1683
To email, remove the double zeroes after @

On Apr 7, 8:03*am, "Jack" wrote:
Hello,
Lots of water in the basement due to the NE floods. *RI got creamed. *I
ripped down the sheetrock, took up the subfloor and laminate. *All in a
dumpster now. *Fans and dehumidifier are running. *I am going to rebuild the
basement.

How long do I need to wait until I can begin rebuilding? *I was thinking at
least a few months to ensure everything is really dry. (wood studs down
there)

Thanks for your time.

If you can vent from outdoors that would help as then you don't have
to remove the water with the dehumidifier. Put fan in a window and
open another way for the air to get in. If you can't do that then the
dehumidifier is the only way to go. It might be worthwhile to get a
hunidity gauge. I agree about the couple months idea, if you don,t
have any constraints that force you to fix it now there is no downside
to waiting longer.

On Apr 7, 7:03*am, "Jack" wrote:
Hello,
Lots of water in the basement due to the NE floods. *RI got creamed. *I
ripped down the sheetrock, took up the subfloor and laminate. *All in a
dumpster now. *Fans and dehumidifier are running. *I am going to rebuild the
basement.

How long do I need to wait until I can begin rebuilding? *I was thinking at
least a few months to ensure everything is really dry. (wood studs down
there)

Thanks for your time.

Get a moisture meter, monitor concrete moisture and wait. Id use a
garden sprayer with laundry bleach about a 25% mix and spray now and
before you build so mold is killed. Did you have any pumps

On Apr 7, 7:45*am, jamesgangnc wrote:
On Apr 7, 8:03*am, "Jack" wrote:

Hello,
Lots of water in the basement due to the NE floods. *RI got creamed. *I
ripped down the sheetrock, took up the subfloor and laminate. *All in a
dumpster now. *Fans and dehumidifier are running. *I am going to rebuild the
basement.

How long do I need to wait until I can begin rebuilding? *I was thinking at
least a few months to ensure everything is really dry. (wood studs down
there)

Thanks for your time.

If you can vent from outdoors that would help as then you don't have
to remove the water with the dehumidifier. *Put fan in a window and
open another way for the air to get in. *If you can't do that then the
dehumidifier is the only way to go. *It might be worthwhile to get a
hunidity gauge. *I agree about the couple months idea, if you don,t
have any constraints that force you to fix it now there is no downside
to waiting longer.

Yeah, once the humidity levels off in hopefully a few weeks, then you
can watch it closely and should be able to start rebuilding in June or
so. If you wait longer than that, there will be high summer humidity
and you might as well wait until after the heating season starts next
fall when you are sure that things have had a chance to fully dry out.

On Apr 7, 8:03*am, "Jack" wrote:
Hello,
Lots of water in the basement due to the NE floods. *RI got creamed. *I
ripped down the sheetrock, took up the subfloor and laminate. *All in a
dumpster now. *Fans and dehumidifier are running. *I am going to rebuild the
basement.

How long do I need to wait until I can begin rebuilding? *I was thinking at
least a few months to ensure everything is really dry. (wood studs down
there)

Thanks for your time.


Definitely have to get a good commercial biocide anti-fungal/mold
inhibiting
cleaner as homemade bleach and ammonia cleaners don't completely
kill all varieties of mold...

As someone else here mentioned, get a moisture meter and check the
levels...

~~ Evan

"Jack" wrote

dumpster now. Fans and dehumidifier are running. I am going to rebuild
the basement.

How long do I need to wait until I can begin rebuilding? I was thinking
at least a few months to ensure everything is really dry. (wood studs down
there)

Sad grin, we heard about it.

As others said, treat the studs now. You can use various products from
bleach and water in a spray bottle to commercial products. That is to kill
any potential developing mold. Let it all dry out, and a meter is a good
thing if you have one for humidity.

You were not soaked long enough to have any true rot from it (unless you did
from *other issues*). You just need to treat the wood a bit and let it dry
then recover the room.

"cshenk" wrote in message
news
"Jack" wrote

dumpster now. Fans and dehumidifier are running. I am going to rebuild
the basement.

How long do I need to wait until I can begin rebuilding? I was thinking
at least a few months to ensure everything is really dry. (wood studs
down there)

Sad grin, we heard about it.

As others said, treat the studs now. You can use various products from
bleach and water in a spray bottle to commercial products. That is to
kill any potential developing mold. Let it all dry out, and a meter is a
good thing if you have one for humidity.

You were not soaked long enough to have any true rot from it (unless you
did from *other issues*). You just need to treat the wood a bit and let
it dry then recover the room.




I agree with the above post...Give it PLENTY of time to dry out...I would
wait till summer...If you can , vent to the outside with fans when the
weather permits...Have one fan drawing dry air in and another blowing
out...HTH...Hope everything works out for you and others that were flooded
out...We came REAL close here in Maine..

"Jack" wrote in message
...
Hello,
Lots of water in the basement due to the NE floods. RI got creamed. I
ripped down the sheetrock, took up the subfloor and laminate. All in a
dumpster now. Fans and dehumidifier are running. I am going to rebuild
the basement.

How long do I need to wait until I can begin rebuilding? I was thinking
at least a few months to ensure everything is really dry. (wood studs down
there)

Thanks for your time.

I'd give it a couple of months. I'd also spray either a bleach solution or
some sort of mold preventer before sealing it up in case thee are some
spores around. Then, depending on the water source, I'd look at prevention.
If it was a rising river, you are SOL, but if it was groundwater seeping,
youy may be able to seal it better or divert it.

We had a lower level room at work get wet a few years back. We removed the
sheetrock, repaired gutters, pave the driveway next to the building, etc.
It was dry for three years. We put up sheetrock a week before the rains.
Fortunately, it was not taped and we took it down and watch the water come
in along the edge of the floor and wall. Consider leaving a place you can
open up and peek in case of water, if it was coming in behind the wall.

"Ed Pawlowski" wrote in message
...

"Jack" wrote in message
...
Hello,
Lots of water in the basement due to the NE floods. RI got creamed. I
ripped down the sheetrock, took up the subfloor and laminate. All in a
dumpster now. Fans and dehumidifier are running. I am going to rebuild
the basement.

How long do I need to wait until I can begin rebuilding? I was thinking
at least a few months to ensure everything is really dry. (wood studs
down there)

Thanks for your time.

I'd give it a couple of months. I'd also spray either a bleach solution
or some sort of mold preventer before sealing it up in case thee are some
spores around. Then, depending on the water source, I'd look at
prevention. If it was a rising river, you are SOL, but if it was
groundwater seeping, youy may be able to seal it better or divert it.

We had a lower level room at work get wet a few years back. We removed
the sheetrock, repaired gutters, pave the driveway next to the building,
etc. It was dry for three years. We put up sheetrock a week before the
rains. Fortunately, it was not taped and we took it down and watch the
water come in along the edge of the floor and wall. Consider leaving a
place you can open up and peek in case of water, if it was coming in
behind the wall.



It was a FLOOD.....No amount of sealing or diverting would have
helped...Google New England floods...Here is one from CNN...

(CNN) -- Anuj Arora's house doesn't sit in a flood zone and isn't covered by
flood insurance, but the structure couldn't escape the deluge. The
floodwaters inundating Rhode Island this week soaked the floors and walls of
Arora's split-level ranch house in West Warwick

http://www.cnn.com/2010/US/weather/0...ing/index.html

On Apr 7, 10:48*pm, "Ed Pawlowski" wrote:
"Jack" wrote in message

...

Hello,
Lots of water in the basement due to the NE floods. *RI got creamed. *I
ripped down the sheetrock, took up the subfloor and laminate. *All in a
dumpster now. *Fans and dehumidifier are running. *I am going to rebuild
the basement.

How long do I need to wait until I can begin rebuilding? *I was thinking
at least a few months to ensure everything is really dry. (wood studs down
there)

Thanks for your time.

I'd give it a couple of months. *I'd also spray either a bleach solution or
some sort of mold preventer before sealing it up in case thee are some
spores around. *Then, depending on the water source, I'd look at prevention.
If it was a rising river, you are SOL, but if it was groundwater seeping,
youy may be able to seal it better or divert it.

We had a lower level room at work get wet a few years back. *We removed the
sheetrock, repaired gutters, pave the driveway next to the building, etc.
It was dry for three years. We put up sheetrock a week before the rains.
Fortunately, it was not taped and we took it down and watch the water come
in along the edge of the floor and wall. *Consider leaving a place you can
open up and peek in case of water, if it was coming in behind the wall.


Ummm yeah... Ed...

Think of a river whose flood stage is at 9 Feet...

Then think of how far said river will spread beyond
its normal boundaries when it rises to 21 Feet...

No amount of "diversion" or "water sealing" will
be effective when you have 5 feet of standing/flowing
river water in your yard... That is just plain old
FLOOD...

~~ Evan

"Evan" wrote
Hello,
Lots of water in the basement due to the NE floods. RI got creamed. I
ripped down the sheetrock, took up the subfloor and laminate. All in a
dumpster now. Fans and dehumidifier are running. I am going to
rebuild
the basement.


I'd give it a couple of months. I'd also spray either a bleach solution
or
some sort of mold preventer before sealing it up in case thee are some
spores around. Then, depending on the water source, I'd look at
prevention.
If it was a rising river, you are SOL, but if it was groundwater seeping,
youy may be able to seal it better or divert it.

We had a lower level room at work get wet a few years back. We removed
the
sheetrock, repaired gutters, pave the driveway next to the building, etc.
It was dry for three years. We put up sheetrock a week before the rains.
Fortunately, it was not taped and we took it down and watch the water
come
in along the edge of the floor and wall. Consider leaving a place you
can
open up and peek in case of water, if it was coming in behind the wall.


Ummm yeah... Ed...

Think of a river whose flood stage is at 9 Feet...

Then think of how far said river will spread beyond
its normal boundaries when it rises to 21 Feet...

No amount of "diversion" or "water sealing" will
be effective when you have 5 feet of standing/flowing
river water in your yard... That is just plain old
FLOOD...

~~ Evan

A lot of people have been talking about "the flood" but have had ground
water, not rising rivers in the basement. I'm not going to ASSume
anything unless the OP specifically says what the source is. I know
plenty of people that pumped there "flooded" basements that were nowhere
near the rising banks of anything. When you get 10" of rain, water travels
through every fissure in saturated ground. Houses that never had water in
the basement in 100 years have had it this rainfall.

There is also quite a bit of difference in the cleanup needed for river
water than with relatively clean ground water.

Meantime, lets find out for sure what the OP had.

On Apr 8, 5:51*am, wrote:
On Wed, 7 Apr 2010 23:29:20 -0400, "benick"
wrote:





"Ed Pawlowski" wrote in message
m...

"Jack" wrote in message
...
Hello,
Lots of water in the basement due to the NE floods. *RI got creamed.. *I
ripped down the sheetrock, took up the subfloor and laminate. *All in a
dumpster now. *Fans and dehumidifier are running. *I am going to rebuild
the basement.

How long do I need to wait until I can begin rebuilding? *I was thinking
at least a few months to ensure everything is really dry. (wood studs
down there)

Thanks for your time.

I'd give it a couple of months. *I'd also spray either a bleach solution
or some sort of mold preventer before sealing it up in case thee are some
spores around. *Then, depending on the water source, I'd look at
prevention. If it was a rising river, you are SOL, but if it was
groundwater seeping, youy may be able to seal it better or divert it.

We had a lower level room at work get wet a few years back. *We removed
the sheetrock, repaired gutters, pave the driveway next to the building,
etc. It was dry for three years. We put up sheetrock a week before the
rains. Fortunately, it was not taped and we took it down and watch the
water come in along the edge of the floor and wall. *Consider leaving a
place you can open up and peek in case of water, if it was coming in
behind the wall.

It was a FLOOD.....No amount of sealing or diverting would have
helped...Google New England floods...Here is one from CNN...

(CNN) -- Anuj Arora's house doesn't sit in a flood zone and isn't covered by
flood insurance, but the structure couldn't escape the deluge. The
floodwaters inundating Rhode Island this week soaked the floors and walls of
Arora's split-level ranch house in West Warwick

http://www.cnn.com/2010/US/weather/0...ing/index.html

The only real solution for this guy is to demolish the house and start
over on higher ground. *No sense rebuilding it on the same spot. *Next
week or next year it will start over again. *Get a dozer and flatten
the place. *That way you can be sure all mold spores are killed. *Then
either build on higher ground, or just get a trailer house that can be
easily moved when heavy rains are predicted. *Whatever he does, he
needs to get out of there ASAP. *The place is unsafe and he and his
family will die from mold spores if he stays. *No house is worth dying
for. *Often fire departments need practice, and homes like that can be
donated to them to burn. *The donation can be a tax write off, and the
cost to demolish is less if most of the lumber is burned. *Plus the
fire should destroy all mold. *He should not save any furniture or
items either. *They are all contaminated.- Hide quoted text -

- Show quoted text -

Depends on the territory. In August 1955, our place in CT got flooded
to just above the piano keyboard on the first floor, and my family had
to leave by boat through the living-room windows. No sure historical
record of a flood that severe there, though there may have been a
comparable one in the 17th century. The place stayed dry for our five
remaining years there, and as far as I know it has never been flooded
since.

Ed Pawlowski wrote:
"Evan" wrote
Hello,
Lots of water in the basement due to the NE floods. RI got
creamed. I ripped down the sheetrock, took up the subfloor and
laminate. All in a dumpster now. Fans and dehumidifier are
running. I am going to rebuild
the basement.


I'd give it a couple of months. I'd also spray either a bleach
solution or
some sort of mold preventer before sealing it up in case thee are
some spores around. Then, depending on the water source, I'd look
at prevention.
If it was a rising river, you are SOL, but if it was groundwater
seeping, youy may be able to seal it better or divert it.

We had a lower level room at work get wet a few years back. We
removed the
sheetrock, repaired gutters, pave the driveway next to the
building, etc. It was dry for three years. We put up sheetrock a
week before the rains. Fortunately, it was not taped and we took it
down and watch the water come
in along the edge of the floor and wall. Consider leaving a place
you can
open up and peek in case of water, if it was coming in behind the
wall.


Ummm yeah... Ed...

Think of a river whose flood stage is at 9 Feet...

Then think of how far said river will spread beyond
its normal boundaries when it rises to 21 Feet...

No amount of "diversion" or "water sealing" will
be effective when you have 5 feet of standing/flowing
river water in your yard... That is just plain old
FLOOD...

~~ Evan

A lot of people have been talking about "the flood" but have had
ground water, not rising rivers in the basement. I'm not going to
ASSume anything unless the OP specifically says what the source is. I know
plenty of people that pumped there "flooded" basements that
were nowhere near the rising banks of anything. When you get 10" of
rain, water travels through every fissure in saturated ground. Houses that
never had water in the basement in 100 years have had it
this rainfall.
There is also quite a bit of difference in the cleanup needed for
river water than with relatively clean ground water.

Meantime, lets find out for sure what the OP had.

I hate it when someone here actually makes sense instead of baseless
assumptions.

It was ground water. I have two sump pumps, plus a trash pump going. Still
was unable to keep up with the water. Neighbors had anywhere from a foot to
4 feet in their basements. I had about a foot.


"Jack" wrote in message
...
Hello,
Lots of water in the basement due to the NE floods. RI got creamed. I
ripped down the sheetrock, took up the subfloor and laminate. All in a
dumpster now. Fans and dehumidifier are running. I am going to rebuild
the basement.

How long do I need to wait until I can begin rebuilding? I was thinking
at least a few months to ensure everything is really dry. (wood studs down
there)

Thanks for your time.

"Jack" wrote

It was ground water. I have two sump pumps, plus a trash pump going.
Still was unable to keep up with the water. Neighbors had anywhere from a
foot to 4 feet in their basements. I had about a foot.

You'll be ok then Jack. Let it dry out and treat for mold (need not be an
expensive process, it's gonna be a DIY level thing) then check all along the
basement for any new small seepage cracks. Potentially some miniscule ones
got bigger. Next time it rains, check down there and see if water seems to
be seeping in and if so, where from which makes treating it easier.

Had that happen in a house in Charlottesville after a hurricane remnant
swept through. Mom got something wth a nozzle that filled a few very small
areas all the way back and no more problems. Some sort of cement that was
real thin but dried hard after filling the cracks in.

"Ivan" wrote

Depends on the territory. In August 1955, our place in CT got flooded
to just above the piano keyboard on the first floor, and my family had
to leave by boat through the living-room windows. No sure historical
record of a flood that severe there, though there may have been a
comparable one in the 17th century. The place stayed dry for our five
remaining years there, and as far as I know it has never been flooded
since.

I did not live in CT at the time, but I've seen plenty about the flood.
About two miles upstream from me is a new dam, one of many built since '55.
There was severe rain and poor weather forecasting of the hurricane.

"Bob F" wrote
Ummm yeah... Ed...

Think of a river whose flood stage is at 9 Feet...

Then think of how far said river will spread beyond
its normal boundaries when it rises to 21 Feet...

I'll think about it when I'm going to sleep tonight. Turns out, it was
groundwater.

On Wed, 7 Apr 2010 18:41:52 -0400, "cshenk" wrote:

"Jack" wrote

dumpster now. Fans and dehumidifier are running. I am going to rebuild
the basement.

How long do I need to wait until I can begin rebuilding? I was thinking
at least a few months to ensure everything is really dry. (wood studs down
there)

Sad grin, we heard about it.

As others said, treat the studs now. You can use various products from
bleach and water in a spray bottle to commercial products. That is to kill
any potential developing mold. Let it all dry out, and a meter is a good
thing if you have one for humidity.

You were not soaked long enough to have any true rot from it (unless you did
from *other issues*). You just need to treat the wood a bit and let it dry
then recover the room.


I used borax instead of bleach to cleanup after a flood. I'm told
thats what the pros use. Buy a box of 10-mule at your local hw store.
Works great and bugs hate it too. Doesn't stink like bleach either.