Basement water damage-mold??

1507 Views 1 Reply 2 Participants Last post by Maintenance 6, Jul 11, 2011

co-bob47

Discussion Starter · #1 · Jul 11, 2011

I just recently purchased my first home in Denver. Last week we had a MONSTEROUS storm and water came into my basement through a poorly sealed window well and a 3/4" crack between my driveway and foundation. I noticed the water within one hour of it starting adn began clean-up immediately. Using a shop-vac to suck up all the water in the carpet. I have fixed the areas where the water came in (I hope), but what to fix the rest of it. I know that I have to replace the carpet adn pad- didnt really like it anyway. My big question is checking for mold behind the drywall. After reading many posts on here, I am thinking about removing 6"-8" of drywall along the floor. If this checks out fine, am i safe to assume that I should be ok? I know that assuming with mold is never a good idea and I will throughly clean the floor prior to repalcing the carpet. I am just looking for some opninions before i proceed . Like most new home owners, i am on a very limited budget and looking to do as much of the work as possible on my own, luckily i am relatively handy. Thanks.

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Maintenance 6

· Mold!! Let's kill it!

Joined Feb 26, 2008

2,849 Posts

#2 · Jul 11, 2011

For drywall, you should cut 12" past the last known wetted area. Water will not generally wick into drywall further than about 6-8". Much of that depends on the length of time the raw edge was submerged though. The extra 4"-6" is insurance. Before I would just start cutting, I would test it for moisture content. If you cleaned up rather quickly, you may have headed off the need. Compare the moisture content of the effected area to a known dry area in the same space. Some dehumidification may bring it down to a reasonbly close level and eliminate the need for demolition. You need to act fast though. Mold will set up shop in drywall in short order. Good call on the carpet. You got rid of the bulk of the moisture right there.