Interior walls where flooding is possible

[rball5]

I'm closing on a house in Galveston at the end of the month. The detached garage flooded during Ike (2008). After the storm, the drywall was removed & never replaced.

I've got an idea of what I want the garage to look like when I'm done with it, but it'd be difficult to do with bare studs. I prefer the clean look of drywall but want to make recovering from a storm as easy as possible.

If I use plywood instead of sheet rock, would it simply dry out after a flood & not need replacing? OSB would be cheaper, but I suspect water would destroy it. Any other suggestions to cover the studs when flooding could occur?

 

[kbs2244]

Go with the drywall.
If you flood you are going to have to open the wall to dry it out anyway.
Dry wall will be the cheapest.
Both now and then.

 

[JimVonBaden]

Metal studs with concrete backer boards or Hardy siding, no intulation.

Jim

 

[Falcon67]

Metal studs with concrete backer boards or Hardy siding, no intulation.

Jim

This is the only thing that might survive a storm surge. However, once you get water in the walls on those studs, the sea water will likely rot them away unless dried out. I think you'll get the same protection with treating the exiting studs to help them repel water and then just coving the walls what sheetrock. Make it like you like, just know that if a storm comes you will lose it and there's nothing you can do about it. Thats going to be part of the price of coastal living,

 

[rball5]

I'm new to costal living (and the threat of a big storm), so I'm not sure what's involved in a storm cleanup. There was no damage other than garage flooding from Ike. I guess I was trying to plan for an identical storm: water in the garage, no surge damage.

If I went with plywood & left the bottom open (inside, or course), would it dry out without having to be ripped out? Or does a flooded wall require a tear-out regardless of material? If there's no hope for the walls, I'll probably just paint everything without covering the studs... for now.

 

[nehog]

... sea water will likely rot them away unless dried out...

For the record, salt (sea) water will (help) preserve wood, not rot it in many cases. When wooden boats were popular you always wanted salt water in the bilges and not fresh water for that reason: fresh water promoted quick rotting, while salt water tended to retard rot.

Of course if you have steel studs, salt water would be a really bad thing!

 

[darkk]

Any other suggestions to cover the studs when flooding could occur?

AZEK makes 4'x8'x3/8" thick sheets of a vinyl/plastic that sell for $80 each at Home Depot. It is a celluar PVC product that you work with just like you would with wood.
http://www.homedepot.com/webapp/wcs...oreNum=4647&productId=202970147&storeId=10051

 

[Falcon67]

For the record, salt (sea) water will (help) preserve wood, not rot it in many cases. When wooden boats were popular you always wanted salt water in the bilges and not fresh water for that reason: fresh water promoted quick rotting, while salt water tended to retard rot.

Of course if you have steel studs, salt water would be a really bad thing!

I should have clarified I was thinking about the steel studs. Wood holds up much better. The galvanized studs would be OK - until you made screw holes in them, then the rot can start there.

Plywood will peel apart and be a huge mess, hence the suggestions on just sticking with drywall. I'd use stainless screws because the drywall will just fall apart in a mess that's not so bad to clean up and you could re-use the screws. More $, but regular drywall screws might be trash by the time you get to removing them. And if the damage is low, you can just cut the bottom half off and re-rock. We were just at a wedding in the spring down at Surfside. The house they rented was right on the intercostal. It's construction had everything on floor 2 and 3 with only stairs and storage on 1. The garage/parking was open studs and the siding on the house was HardiPlank.

What you get from a storm can be many things. The surge is pushed in front of the storm and how much you get depends on the size and strength. It's not rain water - it's a mass of sea water pushed inland by the storm, driven by wind and raised by the low pressure. Could be 2' or 20'. Also depends on your height, location in relation to a sea wall, etc, etc, etc. If the storm passes to the east of you, you might get a little and if it passes to the west you could get creamed. We lived in Houston when Andrew came across Florida. When it hit Cat4, we started making plans - and we were 90 miles from the coast. It was pointed dead at Houston/Galveston and turned back NE at the last minute. Storm surge for Florida was said to be in the 7-10' range. When that kind of storm comes, you board the windows with OSB, take what you really, really like and leave for DFW or Austin. You just don't know what you're going to come back to.

Flooding of any kind is very destructive and the muck it leaves behind is not easily removed. We helped a friend that was in a flood in Kingwood in 93 or 94 - his stuff was underwater less than a day. That crud left behind on stuff isn't regular mud won't come off with a fire hose. Everything is junk.

 

[rball5]

Thanks for the replies all.
From what I can tell, Ike was the only recent storm that caused flooding at this house (only in the garage - no water in the house from Ike was a requirement when looking for a house).

Maybe I'll drywall leaving a gap between the top & bottom sheets so water can't wick up to the 2nd sheet.

This will be my first old house (built in 1895) and we've got lots of small projects in mind... I plan to spend lots of time in the garage.

 

[Toomanytools?]

So is this a yearly thing that will happen or an every 10 years it's pretty likely? Happened in 2008, so you might be due or might be ok. Osb and plywood can withstand some water but if it's submerged over long periods it will swell or start to delaminated. The cement board is not a bad idea if sealed up tight water might stay out of the studs. You could treat it like a big shower pan and use a membrane to seal down to the floor and up the wall 2-3'. Would have to be careful not tear it. I think I would go with drywall and just expect to replace it next flood.
Good luck Jeff.

 

[brownbagg]

concrete block with cell filled to a height above the water line. then stud wall on top of that

 

[djkeev]

You ARE aware of Galvestons "colorful" and extremely tragic history? Yes?

You might condider Planning for a whole lot more than a minor storm surge!

However, if I Expected flooding I'd recognize my local surroundings and plan accordingly. Give up on the flat wall concept and work with the bare studs. Paint them with a sprayer and utilizize their utilitarian nature with using them.
Not everything should or can work everywhere.

BTW they told the people of New Orleans that they were safe thanks to modern engineering also, we know how that turned out. They continue to tell them they are safe and the amazing part is that people believe them and have moved back in! Anyway, a really big pile of dirt and a sea wall do not safety make............

Dave

 

[kbs2244]

I worked for a while with a guy in Baton Rouge.
It was Mississippi water they worried about not Gulf.
But water in a wall is water in a wall, no matter it’s source.

There was a whole kind of flood repair contractor that would come in and take out the whole bottom half of the interior walls, up to the drywall seam, then run fans for 2 or 3 days. They would then spray fungicide, double check all the electric, re-insulate, drywall and paint.

They had it down to a science.

 

[kenfath]

Make sure you have flood insurance!

 

[rball5]

You ARE aware of Galvestons "colorful" and extremely tragic history? Yes?

You might condider Planning for a whole lot more than a minor storm surge!

Yup - I'll be fully insured & ready for the worst... just want to make anything less than that easier to recover from.

This house was built in 1895 - it's a survivor.

 

[rball5]

So is this a yearly thing that will happen or an every 10 years it's pretty likely?

That I'm not sure of - I can't check previous insurance claims until I'm the owner of the property, but I've been told that the only time it's flooded since 2003 was during Ike (and everyone here says Ike was a freakish occurrence).

 

[Reg1952]

I have a basement that flooded before I owned it.I wanted to do a bedroom in basement but wanted to be ready if it happened again.What I did is use 1/2 plywood 12'' on the bottom and then dry walled it from there up leaving a gap between dry wall and plywood.Now if it floods and its not to high I can just replace 12'' of plywood on the bottom.

 

[UncleJoe]

Seriuosly, I would look into lifting the entire structure and installing a couple of courses of block and sit the garage back down on top of it. This is a big job but not as big as you think if you take your time.

When you are done you will have many benefits. A higher ceiling, water proof/resistant knee wall and the ability to just hose out the garage and much better resale.

Think it through and you will find that this is a project that can be done. I lifted a 4000 sq foot home 30 years ago to replace the foundation and my costs was only $4000