Flooding Surprise Upon Return Home

Hurricane Katrina brought catastrophic flooding to many houses, the type of flooding where houses could not always be reclaimed. In contrast, buildings usually can be salvaged when water is removed and drying equipment is brought in promptly.

I've had clients who had water sources on the second floor give way, either a washing machine hose that split, a broken hot water pipe, or, in one oddly designed duplex, a leaking boiler due to the negligence of a repair person. Such flooding as the Connecticut folk experienced can result in the need for significant demolition as water spreads across floors and under cabinets, seeps into wall cavities, and penetrates down to the floor below.

The worst time for such incidents to happen is when the homeowner or renter is away. Sometimes a homeowner comes home from a vacation to find a lake in the basement, and steam throughout the house. This is one of the worst-case scenarios, because now there is both water damage and mold growth.

If you plan to leave your home unoccupied for more than a few days, take preventive measures, such as turning off the water at a washing machine and having a neighbor check your home daily. Some cautious folk turn the water to the house off and may or may not drain the pipes, unless water is needed to keep the house warm enough in the winter to prevent pipes from freezing.

But let's say the worst has happened, such as happened in this Connecticut house. There has been a flood and water has run for days. The relative humidity in the house is high. And here comes the returning homeowner, whose world is about to be turned upside down.

Should this Connecticut scenario ever happen in your home, here are two important points to bear in mind. Use your judgment to temper these points, depending on how extensive the flooding is, what caused it, and how soon you discovered it.

1. With flooding, you don't know the status of the electricity and gas. Stay out of the house and make your calls to an electrician and the gas company first. Or, call a water damage restoration company. They should know how to handle electrical and gas concerns. They are on call 24/7.
    
2. If you don't know how long the CT house was flooded but there is the potential that it could have been more than a few days, then you don't know the levels of airborne mold in the house. Professional mold investigators would know to wear a respirator, goggles, and protective clothing in such a situation, or, at the minimum, a respirator. Homeowners or renters should have personal protection, too, if they must go inside for any reason. Some of the fungi found in a flood situation can grow in lung tissue, so take precautions.

When a home is flooded, and the water sits for a prolonged period, that home may have to be gutted and furniture thrown out. Sometimes, it costs more to remediate the house than the house is worth.

A tragic situation is where low-moderate income folk have no insurance coverage at all and no financial reserves. With one family, I walked the handy homeowner through what needed to be done and how to proceed safely - because he and his friends were the only ones that would be doing the mold clean up/ repair. There simply were no other resources.

In this example, a pipe had burst a week or two before the flood was discovered. Their homeowners insurance would have paid for water damage repair, but two weeks later, when mold was everywhere, that's another story. I referred him to Melinda Ballard at www.policyholdersofamerica.net for any guidance she could offer relating to homeowners insurance.

I made it very clear to this homeowner that this project was one for the mold professionals who knew what they were doing. Yet, there seemed to be no chance of hiring them. What were his options? Do it himself or walk away from the house??

If the homeowner is home when a flood occurs, or finds out shortly after the incident, the damage can be minimized, even though still be extensive. In those cases, the faster wet materials are either dried or removed, the better the chance of avoiding mold growth.

A general rule is that it is easier to prevent mold growth than to deal with the mold after it is established.

The EPA (US Environmental Protection Agency) gives the timeframe of 24-48 hours for getting everything (that can be saved) dried out. Their booklet, A Brief Guide to Mold, Moisture, and Your Home, can be done downloaded from www.epa.gov/iaq. ("IAQ" stands for "indoor air quality.") click on "mold" to work your way to this booklet, as well as a more extensive one for clinicians on mold health effects. Or, order from EPA's indoor air quality hotline, 1-800-438-4318.

Another general rule is that even if water starts out as clean (such as water from a water supply pipe leak), as the hours pass, bacteria multiply, and the water becomes contaminated. Bacteria growth usually precedes mold growth. In less than a day, clean water is in the same class as sewage water.

Here's the first thing for either the homeowner or the professional to do, depending on the situation: Minimize the damage. Move the belongings out of the area. One of my clients had boxes of resource books in their flooded basement which they could have immediately moved out of harm's way. The books that were wet probably would have to be thrown out, but only the books in the bottom of the boxes were wet. As time passed, the continued humidity caused mold growth on all the books, and all were a loss.

Let's just run through some common basement materials that might have gotten wet in a flood in a finished area, either below grade or above. If a water damage restoration contractor is immediately called in, they may be able to remove the carpet and padding and have them professionally cleaned and dried. If more than 24-48 hours passes, the carpet and padding are a loss. If upholstered furniture or mattresses are soaked, they get discarded.

Wet drywall, paneling, and insulation are removed and discarded. If caught quickly, fans and commercial dehumidifiers may be able to dry out wood framing and other remaining remaining materials. Reducing the relative humidity is important to not only dry out wood surfaces but also to reduce the rate of mold growth.

If furniture that isn't upholstered got wet, depending on the amount of time that it was wet, it may or may not be salvageable. If the time was short and water damage not extensive, the furniture could be dried. In some cases, even if a small amount of mold grew, the furniture can be cleaned off -- perhaps by steam heat, followed by being wiped down and dried.

Sometimes a least-toxic encapsulant could be applied to unfinished surfaces, which are higher risk for mold growth. Caliwel is white in color. I don't know of a least-toxic clear product that doesn't have a mildewcide. Perhaps a Borax wash could be done over the surface and left to dry on it. A residual white powdery coating would be left, but that could be wiped off if desired in the future.

Plastic, glass, or metal objects can be washed with a mild detergent. Clothing should be discarded if visible mold is seen on it. If clothing seems relatively clean, it can be washed. Dry cleaning, even if a sensitive person could tolerate it, has questionable merit when it comes to removing mold from clothing.

Sometimes despite the best cleaning in the world, very sensitive individuals have to discard items, such as books and papers and furniture that had been in an environment where mold had started to grow.

Sensitive and allergic folk have to also be careful about what products are used for cleaning and encapsulation in their homes. Try the product on a piece of spare lumber to see if there are any reactions. There is always risk that someone could tolerate a small area covered with a product but not the whole basement ceiling.

Speaking of basement ceilings, a decision has to be made whether the basement ceiling is salvageable or not. If water got in between layers of flooring/subflooring, mold will grow there. There's no way to adequately dry that out.

For information about EnviroHealth mold inspections with an on-site microscope, call 1-888-735-9649 or write to may@createyourhealthyhome.com.

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