What To Do When Your Basement Floods

8/14/2020 (Permalink)

A basement flood can create a lot of problems for a homeowner. Since the basement is often used for storage, items such as books, photos, electronics, and textiles can be adversely affected if they become water-logged. Often, the items themselves can become so damaged that they are beyond repair. Your friends at SERVPRO of Hermitage/Donelson have some tips that can help save you from this situation.

Act quickly if you find that your basement is being flooded, but make sure anyone who is involved is being safe. If you have a large amount of standing water in your basement, call your power company, electrician, and/or your professional water damage cleanup team immediately. These professionals have the tools and training to handle the situation properly and will be able to determine the best, and safest, steps to take in beginning the cleanup process without increasing the risk of fire damage from any dangerous scenarios, such as exposed wires, etc.

There are some steps you can take safely, though. A shop-vac can clean up smaller amounts of standing water, and using a dehumidifier or fans will circulate air; this discourages mold growth and mildew. Make sure to keep these machines at least 8 inches away from walls to allow for the best circulation possible. Your air conditioning can be a big help here, too, so it should stay running throughout the building. Make sure no one turns on a window air conditioning unit in the basement while there are damp conditions, however. 

To discourage mold from taking advantage of damp surfaces, you can scrub them with a solution of one cup bleach to one gallon of water while wearing gloves and protective eyewear. Remember to keep the room ventilated while you are doing tasks that involve cleaning solutions.

You can actually save valuable documents and papers by placing them in the freezer if they have been soaked. This may stop the growth of mildew or deterioration. 

Storing important items in your basement may not be a best practice, but if you don’t have space anywhere else, you may want to try using air- and water-tight plastic bins to protect your items against a flooding event. 

Here at SERVPRO of Hermitage/Donelson, we are always ready to help whenever you are dealing with water damage and fire damage, and we are mold remediation specialists, too. We handle large cleanup projects for commercial business owners and smaller projects for area homeowners, and we can get your premises Certified: SERVPRO Cleaned!