Minor Flood in Basement - UGH !

[Nazgul Girl]

   We had a minor flood in our basement yesterday due to our not having the sump pump turned on.  Dumb, dumb, dumb, but now, ugh !

   No walls or flooring are damaged, but some boxes sitting on the floor got wet, and their contents swelled up and now, each paperback book, for example, weighs about a pound.   We've gotten rid of at least 5 boxes of stuff so far, which is actually a good thing, and we've rediscovered a few treasures, such as some of the Waterford crystal from my first marriage ( the old, heavier kind ), and a picture of me on my h.s. senior trip at the age of 17 !    I was pretty cute, and had long hair !   I'd forgotten about the long hair.   

   In a way, it's a forced decluttering, so it's good.   We've already been working on getting rid of various things down in the basement, and now, it's just accelerated.   My back hurts, though, with more to do after I rest up.   DH is at the doctor, and on the way home, he'll buy a large fan.  

[Deleted]

As someone that has lived through way too many flooded basements, I feel for you.  I'm finally getting estimates to get the carpet put back down after the Easter 2013 flood.

But, I agree, the decluttering that goes on afterwards is good.  I was so ready for water this year.  There was absolutely NOTHING on the floor in 3 bedrooms, a family room and a storage area.   Of course, being prepared it stayed bone dry, but I'm cool with that. 

[Jaguar]

Sorry Naz, but at least your purging & finding long lost treasures.

[bookkeeper]

My basement storage solution is this: If it goes on the floor it must be in a plastic tote. You can stack other boxes on top, but the bottom one must be plastic to avoid moisture.

We have had moisture issues due to sidewalks that sloped in toward the house.  We have fixed that problem and now haven't had any water in the basement in a couple of years. The basement has flooded twice, however, from plumbing issues, so the plastic tote box rule is still in effect.

We have a sump pump that was here when we bought the house.  The water softener discharges into the sump hole, so I know it works. I just don't know how long it will keep working. I know I am on borrowed time.

My parents have a damp basement. My brother bought a second dehumidifier and installed some windows in the basement that we can open to get more air flow. Things are much improved.

[Nazgul Girl]

DH just brought home some new plastic totes, so the things that are left that we still want to store tha aren't up on shelves will be protected in them.

[Tiny]

Uggh... I've had flooded basement in the distant past (usually only partially wet - but once I had a foot of water down there ) I've fixed the back up problem so it's been almost 10 years since I've had water of any kind (seepage or sewer back up).

Don't forget to use a bit of bleach/water to wipe everything down with... even if it's not sewer water back up (I'm connected to a city sewer system and storm water and sewerage use the same pipes   so disinfecting was an absolute must do!)

You can google for a proportion of water/bleach to use. You can also find lots of good info on drying out stuff (and cleaning stuff) that got wet that you want to keep. I think there were some government type pages and/or university sponsored pages and/or county sponsored pages so you can tell if you are getting reliable info.

A fan or two are good choices - open a window or door (if it's not super humid outside). The moisture in the air inside your house needs to go somewhere!!

[Deleted]

Sorry you are stuck cleaning up a mess.  That's never fun.... 

[Nazgul Girl]

   Things are going better.   We got most of the flooded boxes out, and will finish up tomorrow.   We've thrown out a lot of things but that's minor.   Mostly, as I told my DH, we have to remember that whatever is put down in a basement, eventually has to be carried up by someone.   So, the less crap down there, the better.

[Nazgul Girl]

   Thanks for all of the kind words, everyone, and the idea for the bleach water, Tiny.

[toomuchreality]

Sorry for the mess....
Wish it was my mess that got cleaned up!

I grew up with a sump pump in the basement.  I didn't know you ever turned them off.


Good luck! 

[Nazgul Girl]

   Well, now our garage is filling up with garbage bags, and I'm resting between each box or bag full of soaked crap, since I'm pretty tired from yesterday's effort.   I'm on my fourth trip up and down the stairs with heavy stuff, and I clean up and dispose of everything that needs to be either thrown out or dried off in the sun ( will scrub later ).   I lost my nice ICD-10 book ( one of two that I realized I had ) because the box of stuff I brought home from work when I cleaned out my cube got soaked.   Also, the box to my Shark steam cleaner got wet, so now all of its contents are drying in the sun.   But, I will move on.

    DD is coming over to help.   DH is gone to the drugstore to pick up a script and get more black garbage bags.   If anyone wants to stop by and help, feel free   LOL.

[jitterbug]

May 16, 2014 9:27:10 GMT -5 minnesotapaintlady said:

As someone that has lived through way too many flooded basements, I feel for you.  I'm finally getting estimates to get the carpet put back down after the Easter 2013 flood.

Have you thought about going with the stained concrete instead?  In 19 years of living in my current house, I've had the sump pump back up twice and swear that the next time, I'm eliminating carpet and will just get the floors stained...then put down area rugs.  They do some beautiful patterns these days. 

[Deleted]

May 19, 2014 11:34:33 GMT -5 jitterbug said:

May 16, 2014 9:27:10 GMT -5 minnesotapaintlady said:

As someone that has lived through way too many flooded basements, I feel for you.  I'm finally getting estimates to get the carpet put back down after the Easter 2013 flood.

Have you thought about going with the stained concrete instead?  In 19 years of living in my current house, I've had the sump pump back up twice and swear that the next time, I'm eliminating carpet and will just get the floors stained...then put down area rugs.  They do some beautiful patterns these days. 

Nearly the entire basement (family room, bath, hall and den) are ceramic tile, but it's so COLD in the winter.  I really wish I would have gone with in floor heat (and built the house 2 feet higher out of the ground).  It had been dry for 5 years so I figured I had everything under control and went ahead and carpeted the two bedrooms.  It flooded 10 months later.    I'm putting the carpet back down in the next couple weeks because it's damn near brand new, but if it floods again, I'm going to just tile the rest and use rugs.

[CarolinaKat]

May 16, 2014 20:13:23 GMT -5 Nazgul Girl said:

   Things are going better.   We got most of the flooded boxes out, and will finish up tomorrow.   We've thrown out a lot of things but that's minor.   Mostly, as I told my DH, we have to remember that whatever is put down in a basement, eventually has to be carried up by someone.   So, the less crap down there, the better.

Very Very wise words