Theres water where ??

pwa said:

Holly $%^%, How come everything has to be so complicated? I dont think I could have gotten a more comprehensive reply.I decided on sat not to deal with the insurance issue.I am glad the property loss was minimum.There was not standing water it just followed the wall down hill.The point of entry was where the partical board was located.It was bulit as you said and was only used to hide the basement wall,no insulation.I have removed that and the base boards along with all the carpet and scraped up half of the foam padding.Concentrating on the damp area and working out.As for the fans they have been on since I found the water.I will call my plumber tomorrow and see if he has the equipment to dry it properly.I will try to get a friend help me post a picture,I am not the computer literate yet.Thank you for the response

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Good morning, pwa (9:18 AM):

I will admit for the average homeowner and contractor, also, properly drying a structure can be complicated. I call water a "funny animal." Just because you can't see the water, don't think that it hasn't traveled somewhere else. Water travels the path of least resistance. Structural items absorb water, and there are many times that moisture content is not visible to the naked eye....the whole point of using proper equipment and knowing how to use it.

Sorry for the long post, but the length of my post is just a small example of how technical the steps are to properly drying a structure. What are the dimensions (LxWxH) of the damaged room? How many rooms are damaged?

During my years of traveling, the #1 complaint that I hear from property owners is "I didn't know what to do or expect because no one ever explained anything to me!" For the last several years, I have been working on a program for property owners and contractors to better understand how to deal with property damage claims.

As I said before, insurance restoration (dealing with insurance property damage claims) is a specialized field....Your plumber will not be able to help you with a proper dehumidifier or give proper advice......commercial dehumidifiers are used by restoration vendors.....they are expensive pieces of equipment.......most restoration vendors will charge $70-150 per day per dehumidifier....again, as with the air blowers, you don't just plug in a dehumidifier and let it run. Moisture readings, temperature and relative humidity readings need to be established, so there is a starting point of present conditions and to establish where you want to be for a proper dry standard of the structure. If you bring someone out, they should have a penetrating (meter reads at the tip of the pins) and non-penetrating (pads that can read from 1/2" to 1 1/2" through material) moisture meter and a hygrometer (temperature/relative humidity). While a lot of vendors won't have this type of meter, a Tramex concrete moisture meter would also be helpful for the slab. You may have to find a flooring vendor that might have one of these meters. All legitimate flooring vendors should have a concrete moisture meter. All slabs should be checked for moisture content before installing any type of flooring. This is a topic in itself.

There is not any short cuts or cheap way to mitigate a water loss; there is only the right way to dry a structure....otherwise, as I earlier stated, you will find yourself with bigger problems weeks down the road.

paradiseenviro made a good recommendation. At this point, you may want to look in the Yellow pages under the SIC categories of "Fire and Water Damage" or "Water Damage". Ask someone to come out and assess the damage....they may or may not charge you for their time.......you will want a full service restoration vendor (someone who does mitigation and repairs). You may want to even call 2 vendors.

I only say this because I am not there myself, and you are now on Day 5. If you want to post their feedback, I will comment.

As for the drywall, if it was highly saturated 4 days ago, I would have removed it; as long as mold wasn't present. If mold was present, I would tape the drywall in place where it is and then we get into an entirely different strategy to deal with mold. Again, a visual inspection and the use of moisture meters helps determine whether to attempt to dry or not.

As you can see, there are a lot of variables involved when attempting to dry a structure.......thus, a specialized field that requires a lot of education and experience.

If you could post 3-4 photos (outside where the gutter drains near the foundation...photos of the entire room/rooms effected (take pics from opposite ends of room to show entire room), and 2 photos of the damaged areas while standing about 5-6 feet away from the damage....please show the walls and flooring).

The key to solving your problem and preventing future problems is with the use of proper meters: to determine what is wet, determine proper drying procedures, monitor the drying process with meters and the use of meters to determine when it is dry.

Yes, I am giving you a lot of information because this is a highly technical field. I use the word "educate" a lot when I talk to people. I give people "the good news and the bad news." Yet, when I get finished, you will have a better understanding of why and how to proceed.

pwa said:

Hi to all, rented a dehumifier and it is helping for sure.I have removed evrything that felt damp and used a straight edge to cut the drywall about an 1 1/2 of the floor where it was touching or damp.In most places the baseboard touched the carpet.Theres no mold and it seems to be dryong out pretty well.The biggest problem I see right know is the frame work supporting the drywall. I am not sure how he did it yet but the bootom board that would be on the cement is suspened in most places except for blocks that hold it up.I know only treated wood should contact cement,There doesnt seem to be thought of moisture control in the construction.

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Hello, pwa (9:452 PM):

I never like to discourage anyone that is making an effort to learn to better themselves to learn or, in this case, possibly save some money, by handling this loss yourself. The good news is that you got a dehumidifier. Yet, I hope you read my post from earlier today where I spoke about using moisture meters to moisture map the water damaged areas, so they could be monitored to document the drying process. Moisture content, temperature, and relative humidity of the atmosphere all factor into the drying process......my concern is when you say that you have removed everything that felt wet.......all structural items absorb moisture content and you can't feel these items and tell if they are properly dried or not. This can only be done with moisture meters.

Since 5 days have passed before utilizing a dehumidifier, I would remove the water damaged baseboard and the section of horizontal wood strip that was water damaged. At this point, it is more cost effective to replace the water damaged structural items than to spend time and money trying to dry and save these items.

What about the water that may be trapped in the block. If the point of entry started near the upper wall, it is possible that the drywall may also be damp on the upper sections of the wall......you cannot tell by feeling or with the naked eye. Again, the purpose of using moisture meters.

If you had filed a claim and hired a restoration vendor, they would have billed the carrier about $1,500 to $3,500 for Emergency Services only. The process would have only taken 3 days to complete. Yet, I understand what you are trying to do.

I still suggest that you call a restoration vendor and let him moisture map and give you some advice......make sure he has the moisture meters that I discussed earlier. Be up front, and explain the loss, what you are trying to do by yourself and possibly even what I have recommended.

If he charges you less than $250 for his time, it is well worth it.

Please keep in mind that I am trying to help, as best as possible, without photos or proper moisture mapping.

Had pretty much the same problem recently...storm sewer got clogged..water came up over the curb, down my drive and into our house - bi-level w/family room, laundry room, etc - insurance asked "was it ground water" - no,it came from above - "rain, it turns out is ground water...an act of god - not covered.. good luck - we tore out approx 500sq ft of wall to wall plus padding and the square vinyl tiles underneath - ran fans for a week or two - seems dry now but gonna wait another week or so to determine maybe where other bits of h2o have come from over the years..ain't it fun bein' a homeowner? i'm gonna fix it all one way or another but under duress...looks like a lot of time kneeling on concrete and frankly i'm the type who is much better at helping someone with their book report than what i've staring me in the face with this project...i'm gonna start right on it...tomorrow!

I do have a plan involving Allure vinyl from HD...going to start thread her and see how my plan sounds to the rest of this world...keep your eyes peeled for how that turns out...and beware of TMI...you'll never get started!