NEEDED! Wet basement tools

[zeitgeist57]

I need to rent:

- commercial dehumidifier

- carpet extractor

- carpet blower fan

 

My in-laws' basement flooded during the storms a couple of nights ago, and instead of using ServPro, my father-in-law wants to do it himself, if possible.

 

Anyone that can "rent" the equipment to me today and tomorrow can get some money in their pocket during a weekend of not working. I can also pick up the equipment immediately with my truck.

 

Just trying to help family out. Please reply ASAP...

[Rotarded1647545491]

When mine flooded a few months ago we rented an extractor from Lowes, bought 3 box fans, borrowed a heavy duty floor fan (like the Dynos use on FMIC/Radiators), and fortunately had 2 dehumidifiers. It involved ripping all the carpet out, throwing the padding away, drying the carpet, and the reinstalling with new pad.

[zeitgeist57]

Do you still have the dehumidifiers? That's the huge part...

 

Any chance we could borrow/rent them from you?

[Akula]

Run the AC and fans, the cooling coil in an AC unit will dehumidify.

[Farkas]

If it's already beginning to smell it's too late..

 

The very same morning we discovered our basement flooded we immediately moved all the furniture and etc and extracted as much water as possible from the carpets, ran 3 dehumidifiers and 6 different box fans to keep the air moving. The next morning there was already a stench, which means there are already mold spores forming underneath the carpet.

 

We had a company called Sure Clean come out that day and basically verify that if there is any stench it's too late.. sure you could tear out the padding and re-use the carpet, but as long as that smell is there, it's always going to be there. Also, they said if you don't put down an Antimicrobial disinfectant whatever the spores will continue growing into mold regardless of new padding or not.

 

In the end, we ended up paying our deductable and having all the work done through insurance.

[Rotarded1647545491]

Do you still have the dehumidifiers? That's the huge part...

 

Any chance we could borrow/rent them from you?

 

 

I'll check later

[Vander]

I know someone's basement that just flooded to the sump pump breaking, and insurance didnt cover it. They had to buy a new sump pump, get it installed, then pay a company (Thompson something) to come extract water and do all of that stuff. It can be expensive!

[Rotarded1647545491]

I know someone's basement that just flooded to the sump pump breaking, and insurance didnt cover it. They had to buy a new sump pump, get it installed, then pay a company (Thompson something) to come extract water and do all of that stuff. It can be expensive!

 

That's exactly what happened to me, minus the paying someone to install and clean it up.

[mrs.cos]

Run the AC and fans, the cooling coil in an AC unit will dehumidify.

 

Run the AC at 72 Degress (this is what Stanly Steemer told me to do when they extracted our water)

[mrs.cos]

I know someone's basement that just flooded to the sump pump breaking, and insurance didnt cover it. They had to buy a new sump pump, get it installed, then pay a company (Thompson something) to come extract water and do all of that stuff. It can be expensive!

 

 

Back Up insruance.. This is something we discussed at length with our insuracne company, its an addendum and cost a little bit more, but totally worth it.

[zeitgeist57]

We actually got it covered. He bought a 65-pint dehumidifier and two big blower fans, as well as some Lysol concentrate and a garden sprayer (the 2 gal pump-up container for pesticides). We shop-vac'd the carpet until it was no longer wet to the touch (though still damp), sprayed the floors and 12 inches up the walls and cabinets with a dilution of the Lysol, and then ran the dehumidifier and blowers. Within 4 hours there was a dramatic reduction in the moisture content on the carpeted side of the basement, and the bare concrete furnace room was almost completely dry.

 

Thanks for everyone's contribution. I am pretty sure the problem will be solved by tomorrow evening. It may still need new carpet, but we got rid of the water problem for a little less than $400 all-in, what ServPro was going to charge my in-laws $1,400 to do.

[Farkas]

Let us know what happens tomorrow..

 

We thought we had it licked because our carpets were dry to the touch after we tried to extract all the water, but were soaked later because the moisture stays in the padding and the carpet just absorbes it all over again

[Rotarded1647545491]

Let us know what happens tomorrow..

 

We thought we had it licked because our carpets were dry to the touch after we tried to extract all the water, but were soaked later because the moisture stays in the padding and the carpet just absorbes it all over again

 

Exactly! I extracted for 6 hours and when I pulled the dry carpet up, the moisture/vapor barrier on the top of the padding was holding 1/4 inch of water in the padding below. That is why you need to pull up the carpet and trash the padding before it starts to mold. I put the carpeting back down on the bare floor and ran the floor fan underneath. The carpet and floor were bone dry in about 2 hours.

[fast91stang]

If it's already beginning to smell it's too late..

 

The very same morning we discovered our basement flooded we immediately moved all the furniture and etc and extracted as much water as possible from the carpets, ran 3 dehumidifiers and 6 different box fans to keep the air moving. The next morning there was already a stench, which means there are already mold spores forming underneath the carpet.

 

We had a company called Sure Clean come out that day and basically verify that if there is any stench it's too late.. sure you could tear out the padding and re-use the carpet, but as long as that smell is there, it's always going to be there. Also, they said if you don't put down an Antimicrobial disinfectant whatever the spores will continue growing into mold regardless of new padding or not.

 

In the end, we ended up paying our deductable and having all the work done through insurance.

 

 

 

Ours was the same way we had to have puroclean come out and do it, they used disinfectants to make sure no mold spores grew. They cleaned every single thing that was in the basement by hand with a special cleaner. They also removed about 5 inches of the drywall clear around the basement. They brought in huge heppa filters and left them in for 3 days to get rid of any odor. Total cost was like $4000 and home owner's insurance would not pick up the bill.

[Farkas]

What ended up happening man? Were you able to save your carpet? We just had new carpet installed in our basement and finished moving all the furniture back downstairs.. talk about a PITA.

[zeitgeist57]

My father-in-law resprayed the Lysol concoction for a couple of days afterwards and the smell has totally disappeared. It took two days of constant running of the dehumidifier to get everything dry.

 

They are still going to get carpet replaced, as they don't want to run the risk of mold...they have a lot of grandkids (my child included) that they don't want getting sick playing down there. This exercise just removed most of the water without having to pay ServPro $1400 to do it.

[96MustangCobra]

Call Technicare, or rent it from ServPro. That is if they still have anything left, I was down there for work renting and buying stuff the other day

[96MustangCobra]

Also, spray the affected area with Microban. Will kill the smell and anything else