Rental Property Investor · Omaha, NE · Member since 2017 · 48 posts · 20 votes
With the recent mass melt off, ground saturation, and flooding, I am sure a lot of you guys are getting calls from your tenants about flooding basements. I got a call last night.
What are your typical steps you follow when dealing with these type of issues?
Do you call your insurance and make a claim? Do add soil to the side of the home to redirect runoff? Get fans to dry out the area and hope it doesn't happen again?
I just got the call. So far, there is nothing claim worthy. First priority is getting things dry as quickly as possible....or mold. We pulled carpet, sucked up water, started fans. I'll also be delivering a dehumidifier later today. With the actively running water, it was easy to see where some dirt work can likely mitigate another event (hopefully). I will be tackling that when things dry out.
I just got the call. So far, there is nothing claim worthy. First priority is getting things dry as quickly as possible....or mold. We pulled carpet, sucked up water, started fans. I'll also be delivering a dehumidifier later today. With the actively running water, it was easy to see where some dirt work can likely mitigate another event (hopefully). I will be tackling that when things dry out.
Rental Property Investor · Bath, ME · Member since 2014 · 220 posts · 288 votes
7y
@Tony Cimino - I got the call yesterday. Six inches of water in a walkout basement due to snow melting down a hill and under the door.
I can tell you that this is when strong relationships come in handy. My property manager and contractor were on the scene in minutes. They called in an excavator to dig a temporary channel to divert the water away from the basement, pumped out the basement and brought in a few dehumidifiers to dry it out. 24-hours later, and I think we have a crisis averted. If it weren't for my All Star Team up in Maine, I'd be in trouble.
The most important thing you can do is to determine the source of the water. If it's due to a rising water table, then regrading isn't going to help you, but a sump pump probably will. However if the land around your building is pitched toward it, regrading could provide some benefit.
For us, a permanent solution this spring will involve regrading the area in front of the basement door, repairing a clogged drain that we discovered in the basement as a result of this mess, and possibly supplementing with a sump pump. One thing we will not install is gutters, as the risk of ice dams in Maine are too great.
In terms of insurance, we carry a $5,000 deductible because we really don't want to be issuing claims.
Lincoln, NE · Member since 2017 · 24 posts · 12 votes
7y
Yeah, what Jody said.
As for future prevention, look outside to see if you can tell why the water's getting inside.Make sure your gutters & downspouts are all doing their job. If the outside grade slopes toward the house, then building up the soil will certainly help.
If it's not obvious, I recommend calling the Leak Detective (http://www.TheLeakDetective.net). He doesn't fix problems; he just figures out how to solve them, which means he's not going to try to sell you on an expensive solution that you don't need.
Investor · Omaha, NE · Member since 2015 · 366 posts · 184 votes
7y
I had a carpet cleaning company suck out water and leave a huge dehumidifier and air movers in the basement. Also, if it’s in carpet, it’s recommended to remove padding and replace if saturated.
This melt off and rain has been devastating. Homes that never leak are leaking unfortunately.
Rental Property Investor · Omaha, NE · Member since 2017 · 48 posts · 20 votes
7y
We had a very small leak, and the basement has stick on tiles that we were planning on replacing once the current tenants move out so not much of an issue. Clean up the water and go about our day.
From the time our tenant called to now, the leak has stopped and hasn't gotten worse, so I know its just from the snow pack and not from the run off, thank god. Going over there to re-grade the side of the house, but glad its just a small thing.
Lincoln, NE · Member since 2017 · 24 posts · 12 votes
7y
No house should ever leak just because there's a lot of water. If water's getting inside, it means there's a problem that should be dealt with before it gets worse. You really want to figure out how the water got in and fix it the right way before we get a really big storm that causes a lot of damage.