Water damage!
Some pipes on my neighbor’s garden floor burst this morning, and flooded my basement, including water running along the drywall on the ceiling and dripping to the floor via the light sockets. The basement is not finished, and although I store personal items down there it is just stuff, so I am not overly concerned….
Some pipes on my neighbor’s garden floor burst this morning, and flooded my basement, including water running along the drywall on the ceiling and dripping to the floor via the light sockets. The basement is not finished, and although I store personal items down there it is just stuff, so I am not overly concerned. But I am wondering what kind of actual damage there might be to ceiling and electrical and how I should go about have it assessed/remedied.
I’ve recommended a contractor I’ve used to several people. He’ll come out and give you an honest estimate and at least tell you what you’ll need to have done.
http://www.homeimprovementsbychris.com/
We had a terrible experience with Service Master. They charge on a per-day basis for equipment rental. Sounds fair enough, right? Except for the fact they call it a full day for equipment that arrived at 8pm at night! So that’s a full day’s rental fee for 4 hours of equipment. The final and 3rd day of the rental, they call and say they are picking up the equipment in the morning! And I say, but you’re charging me for a full day today. The guy said it doesn’t matter what time the equipment arrives or is picked up, they call that a full day’s rental. On top of it they were uncouth and rude. THEY SO DON’T CARE.
These flood cleanup companies overcharge by insane amounts because they know the insurance companies are paying the tab. But you are not necessarily getting the best results just because they are expensive. All they do is mop and set out some drying equipment you have to pay too much to rent. We paid $1,000 for what ended up being 1.5 days rental. You can BUY the same equipment for that! And use it all you want. Hire a contractor to do this work instead. Especially if you need anything done to the walls or foundation. These flood cleanup people don’t even do that portion of the work.
I work in the insurance industry. You could have very serious damage far beyond what you see. The drywall is likely soaked and will stay damp for weeks. This will definately lead to serious mold out-breaks if not addressed immediately.
Also if the basement was significantly flooded, the concrete slap coulb be soaked wich may lead to again mold and possible fracturing of the slab with temperature changes.
From a damage perspective – probably not alot of $, but from a remediation perspective, you will definately want to have the area dehumidified, and dryed and perhaps rip out some drywall and flooring to dry the slab.
If you are not overly concerned with mold/mildew, waterstains, etc. you may be OK to wait it out and see, but definately keep the area dry and warm.
If you are sensitive or concerned about these things, call a Service Master or Serv Pro or other water remediation expert asap.