What’s In This Articles

• How to Deal with a Basement Flood Clean Up
• Turn Off the Power
• Protect Yourself
• Remove Wet Furniture and Carpeting
• Dry out the basement
• Clean the Walls and Floors
• Do You Have Flood Insurance Coverage?
• If You Need a Public Adjuster to Help You with a Basement Flood Clean Up, Call AllCity Adjusting

How to Deal with a Basement Flood Clean Up

If water seeps into your basement, you need to take immediate steps to protect your property (and your family). No matter the cause, even just an inch or two of water can damage furniture, flooring, walls, etc. Moreover, no matter how much water is in your basement, flooding can pose serious health and safety risks for you and your family. Therefore, all homeowners should know how to deal with a basement flood clean up.

There are several ways that basements can be flooded. For instance, burst pipes or a leaking hot water heater can flood a basement. Alternatively, heavy rain from storms or hurricanes can leak through the foundation into the basement. Poor drainage around the house can also result in basement flooding.

Whatever the cause, there are several steps you should take to protect your family and your property.

Turn Off the Power

If there is standing water, turn off the power in your basement. You or someone else could be in danger of receiving an electric shock.

Protect Yourself

If flood water enters your basement, you have to be very careful. Indeed, flood water can contain hazardous materials such as raw sewage, chemicals and pollutants. Put on waterproof boots, plastic or rubber gloves, and protective clothing before going into the basement. If you’re dealing with mold, FEMA recommends wearing gloves, goggles, and an N95 or N100 face mask that can be purchased at most hardware stores.

Remove Wet Furniture and Carpeting

First, take pictures of your flooded basement as soon as you can. Get pictures of the furniture, wet carpeting and water stains on the walls and floor. You’ll want those pictures when you file a claim with your insurance company.

Get any wet items out of the basement and allow them to dry in a well-ventilated area. Remove wet drywall and insulation. Mold can grow on those items within 48 hours, so it’s important to remove them as soon as possible.

In addition, remove wet carpeting. Leaving saturated carpeting in the basement will interfere with drying the floor beneath the carpeting.

Throw away items with electrical wiring, including outlets exposed to the flood water.

If your basement is flooded with raw sewage or floodwaters, your items are contaminated with harmful bacteria. In that case, personal property that came in contact with that water probably won’t be salvageable. Items that smell mildewy, like curtains, blankets, etc., might be saved if taken to a professional cleaner.

Notably, dangerous mold smells musty. Indeed, mold can cause long-term health problems for people exposed to it.

Dry out the basement

Once you have removed the furniture, wet carpeting, etc., get the flood water out of the basement. Mold can form within just 48 hours, so it’s important to act quickly. Depending on the amount of water, you might use a pool pump or a wet/dry vacuum or a sump pump to remove the water. For a small amount of water, you may only need a mop and bucket.

For gallons of water, you may need the sump pump.

Of course, give your basement several days of drying time. You can speed up the drying process by keeping doors and windows open as much as possible. In addition, you can increase air circulation by placing fans around the space.

Of course, if you wind up with a water level of a foot or two in your basement, you may need help to remove the water. In fact, you may have to hire a professional water restoration company to clean up your flood damage.

Clean the Walls and Floors

First, wipe down the walls and floor to remove any dirt. After the home is dry and you have removed water-damaged items, you can clean surfaces with water and detergent.

However, if a great deal of mold grew, you may need a mold remediation professional to do the mold cleanup.

Do You Have Flood Insurance Coverage?

Standard homeowners’ insurance policies do not cover water damages from floods. Rather, people who live in flood-prone areas must purchase flood insurance through the National Flood Insurance Program (NFIP). The Federal Emergency Management Administration (FEMA) runs the NFIP.

Therefore, if you live in a flood-prone area, apply for FEMA flood insurance so that they can reimburse you for covered flood damage. Whether a flood, or simply heavy rain, caused water damage to a home can be a mystery to homeowners. A good public adjuster can help a homeowner answer that question.

If You Need a Public Adjuster to Help You with a Basement Flood Clean Up, Call AllCity Adjusting

We are a family-owned claims company with five decades of combined adjusting experience. As a result, if there’s one thing we understand, it’s that you need 100% of your claim value.

If you have water damage in your basement, call AllCity Adjusting. We can help you get the money you deserve. We can call the insurance company to start the claims process. In addition, for big jobs, we know which water restoration companies can clean a flooded basement.

Lastly, if you have received a low-ball offer from the homeowners’ or renters’ insurance company, or they are taking too long to process your claim or you just want to talk to someone on your side, call us at 844.692.3587. Or you can email us at info@allcityadhjusting.com.