Water Damage/Flooding (Hurricane Michael)

[Wileel]

Thoughts and best wishes go out to all affected.

Im currently deployed but GF reports we got whacked pretty good, not sure yet but might have another shop reno ahead of me ;(. So, here are a few questions for anyone who has actual experience with flood damage (rain water, not salt).

From what I have heard the shop and house have been flooded from driving rain and water coming thru the roof. Just talking about the shop, any recommendations for getting it dried out from water soaking the walls and sheet rock? I know about the basic stuff, like removing the base board or lower trim and blowers, but curious if anyone has any good tricks. This might be a popular subject due to the recent events so Im sure others will appreciate the discussion as well.

Thanks

 

[James-W]

Drywall will turn to mush when wet so you will need to tear it down and replace it. If you have insulation like fiberglass, blown in, etc, it is best to replace that too. The wood will dry out, but it will take awhile. Electrical equipment (like electric motors, etc) will be questionable when it dries out. They may work OK, or they may not, it's hard to say.

Hopefully you have good insurance that will cover any loss you may have. According to the TV news reports there is massive damage in Florida and some areas won't have power for quite some time yet.

 

[matt_i]

Dehumidifier and box fan, easiest way I know to concentrate moisture from "unwanted areas".

This assumes of course that power is flowing. If not its just air dry...

 

[ishiboo]

Thank you for your service and sorry for what has happened. I personally would remove the drywall immediately up to the first dry seam, and then as matt said put dehumidifiers and box fans in. The cheapest box fans are fine... grab a bunch. Use 2-3 times the number of dehumidifiers recommended for the space.

In the scale of this type of disaster you are going to have a hard time finding a remediation company to arrive in time before the damage gets far worse. Speak with your insurance company to see if they will cover these remediation expenses you will have - I believe most will.

If you have air conditioning, don't forget it's a very powerful dehumidifier - so run it as well.

Mold grows on organic surfaces. Fiberglass batts will dry out and be okay, but the issue is how long the wood stays wet. It may be best to remove batts so the wood can dry out faster. Wood studs with a tiny bit of mold can simply get a little bleach to clean them up. Drywall I consider a complete loss once its wet.

 

[NUTTSGT]

Need to get things open and air moving to dry them out.


Does she have help to get things done or will stuff sit till you get back ?

 

[D45]

Let insurance deal with it all

 

[b-boy]

I had a serious basement flood in a finished basement. You need to quickly remove drywall, insulation, flooring, and any wood that got wet. The quicker the better. You want to give mold as little time as possible to take hold. Once it starts up, it's really hard to get rid of.

Get a bunch of fans and dehumidifiers and keep them running until everything dries out. It will take weeks.

I'd plan on treating the exposed wood with some type of fungicide as well just to be safe.

 

[TractorJeff]

Tell your loved ones to get ahold of this veteran organization if you are deployed.

Team Rubicon unites the skills and experiences of military veterans with first responders to rapidly deploy emergency response teams to communities affected......

https://teamrubiconusa.org

https://www.google.com/url?sa=t&rct...iconusa.org/&usg=AOvVaw0BfiZYg9yXJ9giirQ8e4sj

 

[weadjust]

Let insurance deal with it all

Insurance will deal with it by issuing a check for the cost of the repairs. The homeowner will have to hire a contractor to do the repairs. Good luck with that. After a large disaster you're better off getting in there and doing the demo and dry out yourself with the help of family and friends if they are willing. Take lots of pics prior to starting the work.

Get a tarp on the roof(s) ASAP to prevent additional damage. It could be months before you get the roof repaired/replaced.

 

[CarBikeGuy70]

Do as much as possible yourself as soon as possible. My wife has an aunt whom lives in Slidell LA. After Katrina she and her family tore out anything they could from their flooded house. Insurance Co. had crew do repairs - weeks later. Others on her street who did nothing were in temporary housing for several months- and complaining about how long everything took. Please be patient- the logistics of moving materials and manpower in this situation is enormous to say the least. Take as many pictures as possible every day. Send then to someone who can store them on a computer disc for you. Great to have when dealing with your insurance co. or Fema.

 

[stonesfan68]

Let insurance deal with it all

With all due respect this is terrible advice. You wouldn’t believe what people are going through dealing with insurance companies here in Houston one year after Harvey.

You’ll certainly want to file a claim with the insurance company. But, you need to remove baseboards, carpet and anything that got wet as soon as you can.

Snap a chalk line on the wall at two feet and remove the wet Sheetrock. If that isn’t high enough then go to four feet.

If you can’t get there then you’ll have to have it done by Servpro or a similar company. Call them now to get on the list. Alternatively there may be local charities and churches who will be assisting with the initial clean up. Take the charity, screw your pride, because your’re gonna need all the help that you can get.

Once the wet stuff is cleared then get the A/c running and fans blowing and dehumidifiers running as soon as possible.

Take photos of everything. You can’t have enough photos. Get over to this website

https://www.disasterassistance.gov

and start a claim with FEMA. The earlier the better. They will be inspecting the damage and issuing disaster relief checks (grants) for property loss, remediation and temporary housing as needed.

If I were closer and had the means I’d go there myself. My family and I are still recovering from Harvey. Good luck and send me a PM if you need any other advice.

 

[fourjeepin]

My in laws flooded about 9 years ago. The water was only a couple of feet deep, but most everything was a loss. They were able to save all clothes, tools, lawn mower, and that’s about it. Insurance paid for the house and contents. I believe fema bought the property.

 

[Jakemedic]

Thank you for your service to our great nation! I am incredibly sorry that you have to deal with this while deployed. I do not have any experience dealing with this type of disaster. I belive the advice provided by folks who have lived through this is quite accurate. Demolition as soon as possible is key to minimizing mold growth and have family or friends take lots of pictures! My thoughts and prayers are with you and your family.

 

[Wileel]

Thanks everyone for the best wishes and good advice, sorry Im a little late back to the party here but been a little busing with this junk.. Claim is into insurance company and FEMA paperwork is filed. Still waiting to hear back from them as to when we may see an adjuster, Im not expecting it to be too soon. The area is absolutely a disaster...

Family has toughed it out but they are packing up and going to head up north, at this point there is nothing they can do sitting around there...as for me, Im going to stay in place for a bit until I hear something from the ins company, again there is nothing I can do at home to recover the property at this point and I have better means of communication here than I would there. Plan on heading back soon to where they are, buy supplies and tools then head back down to start cutting trees and what ever I can.

Communication is still very poor but been fortunate to talk twice since the storm. Everyone is safe so thats what counts...the rest well we will deal with it, thats why we have insurance.

Power is not expected to be back for a LONG time depending on the rumor you listen to so Im stuck using the generator, but better than nothing and I can at least run the mini split in the shop (if its still there) to help dry that out adn have a cool spot to sleep or rest.

Seriously appreciate the info about the drywall and insulation, thoses were the biggest questions in my mind. I was hopefully thinking people have seen the walls dry on their own but I knew better with no airflow it would likely mold before it dries. Woudlnt I need to get to go ahead from ins before I start any demo? I would imagine they want to assess it as close to "as found" condition...am I right here?

As I get more info I post up here if in case its helpful to others.

 

[4 Ever-Fish N]

Talk to your insurance agent first but I believe you can go ahead and remove sheetrock, about 4 ft up. I know it's a pain but glad to hear you have insurance and did not have rising water. Thank you for your service. Very appreciated.

 

[OccupantRJ]

Insurance will not give you a hassle in this one. There is way too much going on for them to even pause for a minute. Some policies have a line about the policyholder doing what they can to protect further damage anyway, like tarping a roof, etc. basically doing what you can. I moved all undamaged goods out of the house to preserve them and prevent theft, then I dealt with insurance. Good luck to you sir. Your life just changed. Mine worked out for the better. I hope yours will.

 

[Bretny]

Did you state what type of imsulation or framing you have?
Fiberglass is prety much useless after its wet. Remove it so you can dry out the framing.

Hope you had insurance.

 

[driftpin]

My close friend who is an EE and who worked for a big FL powerco, has been looking at the distribution network damage pics and said it will be months before the system is repaired.

I agree, do what you can ASAP to remove drywall, insulation, and to tarp the house. Having been through many hurricanes in so. Florida in 45 years, and as a first responder, I know you need to do as-much as you can on your own ASAP, as others suggested.

Beware of criminals and scam artists, they will take your $ w/no qualms. Do NOT pay any cash up-front, no-matter how-many scare stories they concoct.

Servicemaster did a good job for us on a minor leakage in the laundry and we have had no issues since.

 

[yeldogt]

When damage area is small the insurance companies network typically has no problem dealing with the loss and getting adjusters moving ... in big loss areas there is just not enough people to go around.

The problem is when you have both ground and storm damage water -- and you don't have flood insurance. IE -- the second floor is wet from roof damaged and you have 3 feet of water in the basement from surface water. You need to understand what insurance you have and what they are going to pay for before you rip and destroy. I agree about the drywall -- anything that flooded and soaking wet needs to be removed. Any fiberglass batt insulation that's wet as well.

 

[Wileel]

Heard from assessor today, looks like he will be there this week and thankfully he will do the inspection with my GF acting on my behalf. Things are rolling but this is not to take a looong time. House is starting to smell already so mold is going to be a fun thing to deal with. Im curious, what do they do about blown insulation in the attic that has gotten wet...do they **** it out somehow or just open every ceiling?

Shop and house are all conventional stick frame, shop has batts in the walls but dont know about the house...there is blown in the attic so might be in the walls as well just not sure.

Kinda off topic but related...any recommendations on a reasonably priced home gamer chainsaw? Looks like Ive got about 6 trees to turn into firewood. Dont want a POS but Im not going to be bucking logs after this fiacso for a living either.

 

[jkeyser14]

Heard from assessor today, looks like he will be there this week and thankfully he will do the inspection with my GF acting on my behalf. Things are rolling but this is not to take a looong time. House is starting to smell already so mold is going to be a fun thing to deal with. Im curious, what do they do about blown insulation in the attic that has gotten wet...do they **** it out somehow or just open every ceiling?

Shop and house are all conventional stick frame, shop has batts in the walls but dont know about the house...there is blown in the attic so might be in the walls as well just not sure.

Kinda off topic but related...any recommendations on a reasonably priced home gamer chainsaw? Looks like Ive got about 6 trees to turn into firewood. Dont want a POS but Im not going to be bucking logs after this fiacso for a living either.

Stihl MS250 if you want a high end homeoner chainsaw that will last decades. Otherwise, you can get a cheap Poulan saw from Home Depot for half the price that will make it through 6 trees. Plan on sharpening the chain every tree, or buy a few extra chains to swap them out when they get dull.

 

[cre73]

I agree with the Stihl MS250 recommendation. Or an Echo 490 or 590 are good saws at a decent price. Good luck and thank you for your service.

 

[Slackwolf]

Kinda off topic but related...any recommendations on a reasonably priced home gamer chainsaw? Looks like Ive got about 6 trees to turn into firewood. Dont want a POS but Im not going to be bucking logs after this fiacso for a living either.

One issue will be getting ahold of something with a local servicing dealer. I'm a big fan of Echo, but Stihl always steps up to the plate after large disasters and has tons of trucks and trailers loaded down with saws and mechanics to support the local Stihl dealers. Atleast they have for every hurricane we've had in Pensacola area. After Ivan and Dennis literally every Stihl shop big or small had minimum of 5 Stihl trucks/trailers parked out front with mechanics building or servicing saws in each one starting right after TS winds laid down. Couldn't be picky on what you wanted as all they had were the farm/ranch prosumer saws, not the pro saws and your paid MSRP, but atleast it was there and they stood behind them.

An echo, dolmar, husky, jonsered, or stihl from a OPE dealer is your best bet after a storm. You will (hopefully) have a servicing dealer that will take care of you in a bind versus a big box store echo, husky, jonsered, etc that will send you to store CS to be then sent to the manufacturer then sent back to store, etc circle of frustration. Usually the long lines after a storm are exchanges/returns on busted generators and chainsaws. Some just due to not being setup on mixture, some due to fault of operator, and others just DOA and not weeded out before being sold like a dealer will do. Pick a dealer that will tune the saw for you on site before leaving and will hopefully offer to retune once its broke in.

Not sure on size of trees but my go to saw is an echo cs600p. cant go wrong with a stihl ms261, ms362, husky 550xp, dolmar 5105, etc. All pro saws but will have higher power to weight ratio and will last forever. Farm/ranch saws aren't bad to step down to to save money but at that point look at echo as their pro saws are priced in line with the farm/ranch husky and stihl. Biggest thing is just finding something as you probably wont be able to be picky for many many months.

 

[Bear]

Not sure on size of trees but my go to saw is an echo cs600p. cant go wrong with a stihl ms261, ms362, husky 550xp, dolmar 5105, etc. All pro saws but will have higher power to weight ratio and will last forever. Farm/ranch saws aren't bad to step down to to save money but at that point look at echo as their pro saws are priced in line with the farm/ranch husky and stihl. Biggest thing is just finding something as you probably wont be able to be picky for many many months.

No matter what saw you get do not let gas with ethanol in it set in the saw for more than a few days. Best bet is to find a source for the non-ethanol gas for your 2-cyl engines. Ask me how I know! (at least run it dry before storing it)

 

[Slackwolf]

No matter what saw you get do not let gas with ethanol in it set in the saw for more than a few days. Best bet is to find a source for the non-ethanol gas for your 2-cyl engines. Ask me how I know! (at least run it dry before storing it)

Definitely agreed there. Premixed in can is safer for most people that wont be running their saws frequently. Expensive compared to pump gas, but cheap insurance and convenient to fit the quarts into saw bags/boxes. For short trips (2-5 hours) in woods clearing trails typically I just grab a few of my cans of trufuel 50 or vp sfe 50. My hurricane stash every year is a 5gallon pail of VP sfe 50. Its fairly reasonable for what it is if bought during right time of year when vp fuel dealers are hungry. My non-emergency long running days fuel is 91 non ethanol mixed with a little sunoco 110 and amsoil sabre to cope with higher than stock compression on my saws.

I inherited a stihl ms260 in need of repairs after it had only seen ethanol once or twice in its life and the inside of the fuel tank started peeling after sitting with 93 e10 for a month or so. Saw ran great until that point and it needed a lot of work after. Same goes for an echo top handle, 93 e10 for 6 months. Whole new fuel system needed by the time was all done.

 

[pcmeiners]

Anyone with motors/tools under fresh water.....

If you act quickly( dehumidifiers/fans/heater fans) you will loose little. As to motors/electronics you need to pull them quickly ( within a few days) and get them in your oven at low heat, or in an enclosure with an electric heater (with fan)for over 24 hours. You may need bearing replacements but it beats replacing entire motors. If no electric or gas, propane torches , even barbeques can be rigged to supply warm air.

If you wait for any of FEMAs help, you will have nothing left. During Sandy they promised generators and heaters, ..... still waiting, though they did supply plenty of bottled water.

 

[Wileel]

Perfect, Stihl MS250 or 251 it is...that's plenty affordable IMO for a good brand. I plan to fly back into OH and meet up with GF (if she ever leaves) so should be easier to find they saw and supplies Im hoping. Reports are now predicting I should have power to the house by the 31st, so that should help get things rolling

Its already started, companies are scurrying around trying to take advantage and get people while they are still disoriented. Guy came today to see if we needed clean-up. He was going to move fallen fence panels to the road or dispose of, cut and remove like 6 trees as well as some typical debris...for the low low price of $5000. Told GF to get a detailed quote but he could go * himself.

Assessor came today and sounds like the house is gonna be getting partial gut. Haven't seen the report but from what I hear it sounds like most walls and ceiling's are coming down, insulation replaced and some floors as well. Shop will be gutted for new rock and insulation. Shop will be getting new roof and I believe house will as well..

 

[FordTruckWench]

Plan on sharpening the chain every tree, or buy a few extra chains to swap them out when they get dull.

I sharpen the chain every time I gas up the saw. If you never let a chain start getting dull, then the knife edge on the chain won't fold over, and you won't have to remove much material. One or two gentle swipes with a file on each chain tooth and raker, and it's ready to go for the next tankful of gas.

At some point I counted up how many 2 cycle mix bottles I've used -> how many gallons of gas the saw has used -> how many times the saw's tank has been filled, i.e. how many times I've sharpened a chain and then divided by the number of chains I've used up. The answer was about 200 sharpenings per chain.

 

[stonesfan68]

Seriously appreciate the info about the drywall and insulation, thoses were the biggest questions in my mind. I was hopefully thinking people have seen the walls dry on their own but I knew better with no airflow it would likely mold before it dries. Woudlnt I need to get to go ahead from ins before I start any demo? I would imagine they want to assess it as close to "as found" condition...am I right here?

As I get more info I post up here if in case its helpful to others.

As I wrote earlier, take lots of photos for the insurance adjuster. Include photos of the height of the water- my wife held a tape measure against the wall.

Harvey showed us that our slab was sinking. We had 9" in the back of the house and 7" in the front! Fun, fun!

 

[pcmeiners]

" Guy came today to see if we needed clean-up. He was going to move fallen fence panels to the road or dispose of, cut and remove like 6 trees as well as some typical debris...for the low low price of $5000. "

The A-hole knows great charitable groups will be there shortly offering free help to all; this would be the type work they do.

 

[mbear]

In 2016 my home flooded to a level of 49 inches . We gutted everything to a height of six feet . Drywall , insulation , all flooring , cabinets , EVERYTHING . If it got wet , get it out . We were able to get the power back on within a week so we set up commercial dehumidifiers , fans , and ran both Central AC units continuously . Had a company come in and check moisture levels daily . When it dried out enough , they sprayed it down with a chemical to prevent mold . Only then did we start the renovations . We lost 90% of everything we owned . A humbling experience . I don't wish it on anyone .

 

[59 wagon man]

fema or insurance I believe paid for our chainsaw from wilma

 

[pcmeiners]

Not sure if you can wait but the charities are phenomenal (they should run FEMA), they will supply labor and materials for sheetrock/mold removal/electric etc. work.

 

[stonesfan68]

In 2016 my home flooded to a level of 49 inches . We gutted everything to a height of six feet . Drywall , insulation , all flooring , cabinets , EVERYTHING . If it got wet , get it out . We were able to get the power back on within a week so we set up commercial dehumidifiers , fans , and ran both Central AC units continuously . Had a company come in and check moisture levels daily . When it dried out enough , they sprayed it down with a chemical to prevent mold . Only then did we start the renovations . We lost 90% of everything we owned . A humbling experience . I don't wish it on anyone .

Yes, it is very humbling indeed. I had to swallow a lot of pride and accept the help that we were offered. We didn't have near that amount of water and were able to move most everything upstairs, but we still ripped out 48" of drywall and insulation and built-in cabinetry. I wouldn't wish it on anyone.

 

[bpjr]

Check the wiring. If your house wiring got wet with salt water or maybe contaminated water it needs to be replaced. Its a long term issue with internal corrosion (where you can't see it) that shows up yrs later. Much like major house fires that spew corrosive gases that slowly eat and cause problems...my neighbor is experiencing this now 15 yrs later. In this case the fire also compromised pvc in slab plumbing that showed up yrs later.

 

[pcmeiners]

"Check the wiring. If your house wiring got wet with salt water or maybe contaminated water it needs to be replaced."

Even if it is salt water flooding the wiring does not need replacement if it is copper. An oxide forms, which does not foster further oxidation. What you should do is clean off all junction connections. Aluminum wiring is a different story (possible main feed lines) as are breaker boxes hit by salt water.