Flood victims: If you have water damage and no flood insurance, do the following ASAP:

[elehhhhna]

Remove wet carpet & padding immediately. It's trashed. Shopvac the water out of the plastic bags after you bag the padding so it's light enough to carry. Suck up all the water you can, immediately. Wipe surfaces swith a bleach or other disinfectant solution. RENT A Dehumidifier and run it. Place box fans or rented blowers everywhere to circulate the air. Keep the AC on HIGH. Drill holes in kickplates so air can circulate. Open all cabinets, closets, etc.

If you move fast, you'll avoid mold...

I work for a water & fire damage restoration company. If you ARE insured, call a national restoration company ASAP. We big companies can mobilize crews from all over the country, and have done so for Katrina, Rita, etc. Structural drying works better the faster you get started.

Good luck.

[babylonsister]

1. Rec'd. Good advice might be needed. nt

[NC_Nurse]

2. Great advice! Thanks for posting it!

:thumbsup:

[Oceansaway]

3. thanks...n/t

[nadinbrzezinski]

4. Bleach if I remember, for this goal is a fifty fifty solution

and keep bleach handy for other things such as making water potable

(Some ten drops in a liter of water)

[Dr.Phool]

48. I'm pretty sure, it's one cup per gallon, but I used three, just in case.

[Midlodemocrat]

5. Let's keep this kicked. This is a great post.

[elehhhhna]

14. Wow. Thanks.

It just occured to me that people really have no idea what to do. Sadly, w/o electricity you're SOL, unless relative outdoor humidity is low (doubtful), in which case open all the doors & windows.

[nadinbrzezinski]

18. you are right, most folks don't

damn I have been posting the usual ones of how to take care of yourself. Thanks for posting the how to take care of your property!

KUDOS to you

[LeftyMom]

6. Great post.

Rec'd.

[SoCalDem]

7. When our friends had a flood in their house, they also

removed (sawed & cut away) the bottom parts of the drywall, and left that space open ..to air oout.. They figured they were going to have to replace it anyway, so by removing it while everything was still damp, it allowed air to circulate & dry out the wood.. They also used lots of charcoal left in pie tins..all over the place to absorb smells..

[elehhhhna]

16. Probably a good idea, & primarily on insulated walls . Insulation is like a sponge.

P.S. replace the wrecked flooring with TILE.

[Shoelace]

32. and don't throw anything away because FEMA needs to see it all

as proof of damage. At least that's what we learned from our floods in the 70s.
Put all damaged goods out in front of house, apartment, so when they finally do get there, they know what you lost.
One enterprising guy in our neighborhood actually "borrowed" other's damaged goods that they threw out for trash, put them in with his stuff and got $$ for it all.

Drywall has to be removed just above the water line.
Darned good post elehhhhna!!! K&R :applause:

[elehhhhna]

34. Photos of your wrecked stuff will generally suffice.

[Shoelace]

37. good to know (if your camera survived the floods)

I often think of what I'd grab during a flood and honestly, during our floods, we had to evacuate through a bedroom window in the middle of the night with 3 kids, dog and ourselves - nothing else, no time as the waters were rising that fast.

We barely made it out of our driveway in time too and we were scared to death!.

My heart goes out to those people so much. I think that the greatest loss (of material stuff) would be the family picture albums and of course the important papers that should be in a waterproof container ready to grab on a moment's notice.

[SoCalDem]

52. KEEP THOSE PAPERS IN A SAFETY DEPOSIT BOX

at the bank :)

[XOKCowboy]

21. We did the same thing to my walls except we kicked through the drywall

mostly in frustration though. Having your house flooded is a terrible experience.

[Indenturedebtor]

8. K +R for public service announcement n/t

[niyad]

9. except that, according to what I heard on cnn this morning, many people are not being

allowed back into their homes.

[kestrel91316]

40. Can't have the Little People mitigating their damage now, can we?

Have to make sure their property is a TOTAL loss.

[leftofthedial]

10. Great advice!

:thumbsup:

[niyad]

11. k & r

[PBS Poll-435]

12. Awesome Post! Time is of the essence, people.

[hedgehog]

13. Kick

[DogPoundPup]

15. This guy was going to his place to do just that but guess what?

Flooding's dangers
Police in Cedar Rapids confront a resident who tried to bypass a checkpoint. Access to properties is closed because of sinkholes and toxins in water. (AP photo by Seth Wenig / June 16, 2008)

[elehhhhna]

17. Ironic. Wouldn't get 'em out for Katrina, won't let 'em back in for this.

[CrispyQ]

19. I appreciate that it may not be safe for this person to return,

but this is how law enforcement is protecting the people - by shooting them & bashing in their windows?

Arghhh!!! I swear, some of our law enforcement acts like they are on crack.

[crikkett]

31. Do you appreciate the fact that he was jumping a checkpoint, and it was SUV vs. revolver?

the SUV has a good chance of winning that matchup.

I have to vote for the Guard on this one, they're risking their lives and acting under orders.

And I bet it's just miserably muggy there too.

[colinmom71]

38. Actually, the guy began trying to ram through the traffic stop...

and even threatened to run over officers. That's when the police had to resort to arming themselves to get him to stop.

[kath]

22. Jeebus.

The Murkan police state marches on...

[XOKCowboy]

20. I thought you were going to post "Burn Your House Down" because

that's what I thought after I got flooded in '82 in Tulsa. By the time I got back into my place it had been shut up tight for 3 days and the smell of mold and bacteria was horrible. The walls were still like putty up to the water line. What wasn't ruined by the floodwater had that horrid smell permeating it.

Great post and great advice. Good luck to all of those affected by the floods.

[mdmc]

23. kick

[astonamous]

24. kick

:kick:

[Skittles]

25. copying and pasting and sending to frends in Iowa n/t

[Flying Dream Blues]

26. kicking nt

[crickets]

27. K&R

[Wiley50]

28. I installed carpet for 25 years and contracted from Servpro for several years

Your advice is on the money.

also, if your house has a crawl space don't neglect to dry it out too.

[elehhhhna]

30. lol

funny you should mention s'pro

It's a good company.

[liberalla]

29. Excellent information!

I'm not in any danger right now, but this is valuable info!

Thank you for posting.

[elehhhhna]

33. More, straight from the boss:

Power wash the mud and crud off the floors if possible -- works fast, removes a lot of the icky stuff. Once the standing water's gone, check for snakes (!Yikes! A bigger problem here in TX than Iowa, but still. Euuuw.)

[Tashca]

36. Definitely check for snakes...

I'm already hearing stories about basements with many snakes here..
I hate snakes!!

[nadinbrzezinski]

41. Remember, some are river snakes and not venomous, others are VERY DANGEROUS

if you see a triangular head, or you think you see a triangular head... BE CAREFUL

By the by, animal control may be a tad too busy, fire extinguishers can work to cool them down where they become very sluggish... and I mean VERY SLUGGISH... don't ask, I KNOW this is North America and King Cobras are NOT indigenous to this continent, but that is how we dealt with a King Cobra once. It took two fire extinguishers.

Oh and if you have to handle a snake... hand right behind head... and KEEP IT THERE... them suckers can be very fast and strong. If you have a pole with a yoke or a piece of wood with a yoke it is the safest

Of course there is always a shot gun (to animal lovers BITE ME, these are very dangerous critters)

[Tashca]

43. This will make you laugh

I was reading your post......my cell was on vibrate.....it went off.

I jumped right out of my chair!!!!!!!!!!!!

My imagination is too strong.

[nadinbrzezinski]

44. That is funny indeed

[Ignis]

47. *snort*

Reminds me of a time when I was a young IT tech installing network cable in the ceiling while balanced on a ladder. We'd just received pagers, and I'd forgotten I even had it on me.

All the techs start telling 'scary' stories to each other to kill time. It's dark except for a few hang-lights in the not-quite-finished office we're working in, and we're all getting a little twitchy. (I'm sure the caffeine and it being 2am didn't help, either.)

I'm leaning all the way out as far as I can to reach a tough spot, when suddenly, my pager vibrates. Not only did I fall and cause the ladder under me to fall, but I kept a death grip on the cable we were installing and managed to rip out about two hours worth of work.

:rofl:

[elehhhhna]

50. did you know that a constrictor will release you if you

pour hot water on it?

Totally random thought but, hey, good to know.

[Tashca]

35. Excellent....Excellent post!!!!

This is exactly what we did......we didn't know what to do and called a restoration company.

They sent a team over and told us exactly what you have in your post. We spent 2 days ripping and tearing it all out......then must have had ten fans and two dehumidifiers. The neighbors were beyond helpful.
Once we got the air circulating it didn't take as long as I thought to get it dry.

They were adamant about doing it immediately....they were right.

I hope others see this!!!!!!!!!!!!

[kestrel91316]

39. Don't you have to rip out ALL THE SHEETROCK?

And wiring? And cabinets? I would think everything but the framing would have to go.

[backscatter712]

46. Wiring can likely be saved.

It'll dry out, though you should have a trained electrician look over it, and make sure it's dried out and cleaned up. You'll probably have to replace things like breaker boxes and such, but the wires themselves are just copper and plastic, and can likely be reused.

As for cabinets, if they're made out of hardwood and varnished, they can be dryed out, bleached and saved. If they're particle board, or have veneers on them, or laminates, they're probably trash.

[Arugula Latte]

49. I was wondering about wiring, too.

I'd be afraid to plug anything back into an outlet, even if it seemed like everything had dried out... :scared:

[snooper2]

42. Skip this step... Drill holes in kickplates so air can circulate

Rip out all the baseboards period, also remove the covers over electrical boxes to speed drying..

Baseboards are cheap and the quarter inch gap between the drywall and floor will allow better drying

[backscatter712]

45. I've been told that if flooding has reached drywall, you have to rip it out.

The drywall will be full of mold if you leave it, and you also need to rip it out to expose wooden studs and frame members in your house so they dry out. If they're made of pressed wood, you can dry them out, bleach them, then put in new drywall and insulation and you'll be OK. If you don't rip out the drywall and let the frame dry, the wood will rot, and make your house structurally unsafe.

At least that's what I learned when I was in Fort Collins, CO in the Flood of '97...

[Jeroen]

51. Kick

[RazzleCat]

53. perfect advice,

worked in disaster recovery for 10 years. here is another hint, if your washer is still working, use it. when my basement flooded, I started to wash my clothes with bleach, pull up hose, during rinse cycle and you have warm sudsy bleach water on hand. spray where needed. sort of a recycle hint.