Gwtting water out of basement????

[PUZZLDY5]

We have an inch of water in our basement. It has never flooded before and I have no idea how to get it out. There is about 1,000 s.f. of carpet. We can't afford to hire anyone and we live on a hill so we never seen the need for flood insurance. (lesson learned) Recources are a shop vac and 5 teenage boys. I need suggestions quick before it starts to smell
any and all suggestios will be greatly appreciated

 

[MerMom60_94]

Use the shop vac to get the water up. If it's regular household carpet, it's no good anymore so you will have to tear it up. Also, if you have finished walls you may need to mix up some bleach and water and wipe them down to kill off any mold.

Good luck from someone who goes through this annually. We know our basement floods so when we put in carpet we put in indoor / outdoor squares. Something to consider if you are going to replace yours.

 

[sharlon]

A dehumidifier running continuously would help as well. Best of luck!

 

[mjkacmom]

We've been flooding about once every 2 years now. We have industrial carpeting, with no padding. Shopvac - for our last storm, I had two running at once, and dumped into our sink. There is a great product called damprid - hang them in the basement, and they absorb water (I'm looking at one right now). The trick is to shopvac while the water is pouring in - I spent 8 hours doing nothing but shopvacing by myself a few weeks back.

 

[PUZZLDY5]

We've been flooding about once every 2 years now. We have industrial carpeting, with no padding. Shopvac - for our last storm, I had two running at once, and dumped into our sink. There is a great product called damprid - hang them in the basement, and they absorb water (I'm looking at one right now). The trick is to shopvac while the water is pouring in - I spent 8 hours doing nothing but shopvacing by myself a few weeks back.

Where do I get Damp rid? Is it available at home depot or lowes?

 

[golfgal]

You could also get a sump pump, hook it to a hose and run the hose out a window in the basement to pump it out. Heck, even one of those small outdoor pond pumps that make the little water fountain feature would work. That is how we just pumped out our large backyard pond because our big pump is broken and we need to fix it.

 

[mjkacmom]

Where do I get Damp rid? Is it available at home depot or lowes?

I got it at home depot - it has these crystals in the top portion, and the water collects in the bottom - got a few cups of water (and the smell is gone).

 

[dex08]

I've also seen Damp Rid at Bed Bath & Beyond! Love those 20% off coupons

 

[AKL_Megs]

Just a Damp Rid tip...

Don't waste money on the container they sell... buy cheap plastic bowls, and the bag of Damp Rid... it works just the same, and you can fill about 8 bowls with the $4 bag!

 

[freckles and boo]

If you can get one, buy a small, submersible utility pump. It works in as little as 1/8" of water. You hook up a hose, plug it in, and set the pump on the floor. We, sadly, have two of them. And a sump well and pump. And a generator.

 

[kydisneyfans]

You may want to contact local authorities also depending on where you are at. I just saw that Lexington, KY was sending teams to pump out basements for free within the city limits.

 

[minkydog]

Ugh. I feel for you. We went through the same thing last fall. We also life up on a ridge and never thought we'd need flood insurance. Nothing like having 4-6" of water in your basement and hearing your insurance agent tell you they aren't going to pay anything. We sucked it up, literally, and did the work ourselves. The carpet had to be torn out. One wall ended up with mold 3ft up the wall(and it happened in less than 48hrs!) Had to tear that out. The sump pump broke, so we had to get the water out with the shopvac, one load at a time. And after all that was done we had to redo the driveway because the parking pad had settled toward the house--it was diverting water right under the walls! Ugh. That was about $5000 right there. And FEMA came out and determined that we didn't have enough damage for htem to get involved. We still have about $3-4000 worth of work that needs to be done and we'll have to wait until we have some money to fix it. In the meantime the basement is a mess.

Get the boys to work vacuuming the water out. THey can lay down towels to soak up the little bits. Get your fans going and open the windows to let the humidity out. If you can rent a dehumidifier, do it. You need to tackle this like you're killing a snake. Best of luck to you. Hope your repairs aren't as much as ours were.

 

[kpm76]

If you can get one, buy a small, submersible utility pump. It works in as little as 1/8" of water. You hook up a hose, plug it in, and set the pump on the floor. We, sadly, have two of them. And a sump well and pump. And a generator.

I agree, get a pump (if you can, they may be sold out now in your area). We live in RI and had terrible flooding last month. We had 2 ft of water in our basement and had to run two pumps for several days because the water kept coming in.....your carpet is likely ruined. Once the water is gone and you are confident it has stopped coming in, work around the clock to get the basement dry. Pull up carpet, clean walls etc. Mold grows FAST!

 

[Sue/Kalamazoo]

We had a similar situation and we rented a carpet cleaner and just used it to extract the water. It worked much better than a wet vac. Then we ran fans and two dehumidifiers non stop for about 4 days. We saved all the carpet and walls.

 

[PUZZLDY5]

These kids and I have been working all day long. We are exhausted. The carpet is still damp. I borrowed my mothers carpet cleaner and have been sucking up water in the carpet. I am trying to save it but I don't think it's going to work. I just heard on the news that FEMA is finally going to help but it may be a while til they get to us. I'm tired ya'll.

 

[minkydog]

These kids and I have been working all day long. We are exhausted. The carpet is still damp. I borrowed my mothers carpet cleaner and have been sucking up water in the carpet. I am trying to save it but I don't think it's going to work. I just heard on the news that FEMA is finally going to help but it may be a while til they get to us. I'm tired ya'll.

I bet you are. Take a break, get a glass of wine. I doubt you're going to be able to get the water out of the carpet. The pad will start to mildew tomorrow or the next day. When you go to take it up, be sure you wear masks and use a carpet cutter to cut it into strips so you can get it out easily. You won't be able to lift it if you try to take it out whole.