How do you deal with water damage in your properties?

Question

I had some properties near D.C. when hurricane Sandy hit, and got flooding in the basements that we had just refinished. We had to remove some drywall, and carpet pad and start over. I would love to hear what others do in these situations?

Michael Hunter · Answer

According the IICRC (Institute of Inspection Cleaning and Restoration Certification), which sets the standards for the cleaning industry and water damage restoration training, there are several different levels and classes involved in liquid destruction. From the IICRC’s S-500 standards, there are three categories describing the type of liquid involved.

• Category 1. This is liquid from a clean and sanitary source, such as faucets, toilet tanks, drinking fountains, etc. But, category one can quickly degrade into category two.
• Category 2. This category of liquid used to be called grey water, and is described as having a level of contaminates that may cause illness or discomfort if ingested. Sources include dishwasher or washing machine overflows, flush from sink drains, and toilet overflow with some urine but not feces.
• Category 3. This is the worst classification and is grossly unsanitary. It could cause severe illness or death if ingested. It used to be called black water, and sources include sewer backup, flooding from rivers or streams, toilet overflow with feces, and stagnant liquid that has begun to support bacterial growth.

Next are the classes of destruction.

• Class 1. The lowest and easiest to deal with, this has a slow evaporation rate. Only part of a room or area was affected, there is little or no wet carpet, and the moisture has only affected materials with a low permeance rate, such as plywood or concrete.
• Class 2. With a fast evaporation rate, this level affects an entire room, carpeting, or cushioning, the wetness has wicked up the walls at least 12”, and there is moisture remaining in structural materials.
• Class 3. This class has the fastest evaporation rate, and ceilings, walls, insulation, carpet and sub-floors are all saturated. The liquid may have come from overhead.
• Class 4. This class is labeled as specialty drying situations, which means there has been enough liquid and time to saturate materials with very low permeance, such as hardwood, brick, or stone.

Michael Hunter · Answer

We removed the material we did do to the category 2-3 nature of rain surrounding hurricanes.

Is everyone aware that if it was clean water that caused the problem then we could have dried and saved almost everything!

Russell Brazil · Answer

Remove the affected material and replace.

Joe Splitrock · Answer

Once a wall and carpet pad get wet, they need to be removed. There is no way to extract water and avoid mold. There are strategies to limit problems in the future. You could look at tile flooring instead. I have also seen some people unfinish a basement and just leave the block walls painted. Then if there is water in the future, there is nothing to wreck. You have to figure out how often the damage is likely to occur and how much the rents would suffer without the finished square feet. I am interested in other people opinions on this. We battle a high water table in my area so we see water issues occasionally after hard rains. One thing I do on all my properties is look at drainage around the house. I have dirt brought in to build up around the foundation. That helps.

How do you deal with water damage in your properties?

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