Announcement

Collapse
No announcement yet.

Flooded House Rebuild Process

Collapse
X
 
  • Filter
  • Time
  • Show
Clear All
new posts

    Flooded House Rebuild Process

    So this will be a first for many of us and I'm curious what we have to look forward to. Who has been through this and what should we expect?

    My plan when the water recedes is the rip out the lower sheet rock and remove the wet insulation. But what about doors, cabinets, all the wood items?

    We don't have any carpet downstairs, concrete and tile, will the tile need to come out? I assume the water will be under it, not sure if that warrants complete removal or what.

    Any other items we should do when we first get in the house besides removing the wet material and cleaning the mud and muck out?

    #2
    you need to treat for black mold otherwise that stuff will kill you if not treated properly

    not trying to scare you, just being serious from my past experience with major house flooding

    if you have insurance, let the professionals come in .... Serve Pro, Service Master, etc...

    before you begin tearing / ripping things out, take hundreds of pictures (video) to document, document, document
    Last edited by Cajun Blake; 08-28-2017, 07:53 PM.

    Comment


      #3
      First document, document, document. Take video and pics of everything. I'm talking everything even as small as a toothbrush. Then the cleaning out begins. Anything that's ruin comes out. Cabinets will be ruined, baseboards and hollow core doors. Solid doors may be salvageable but that also depends. Any electric that went under will have to be replaced. If you have a fireplace w metal it will have to go also. Most tile and concrete stained floors should be good but can be replaced by insurance. After everything is gutted and out you need to find a crew that will come in and spray 13% commercial bleach.... not the bleach from Walmart. After the house is dried and inspected the repairs begin.

      Don't use fly by night contractors. Don't pay upfront. Don't be in a hurry and use anyone.

      I went threw Katrina. I'm an employed firefighter for 28 years and many people got burned by contractors.

      I'm sure you can go to the fire station and ask for help as they mostly all work second jobs and know people. Good luck I know how you feel right now. Been there done that

      Comment


        #4
        First call your insurance agent. Make a claim and ask if you can start the cleanup or have to wait for a adjuster

        Comment


          #5
          Last statement was spot on. Wait to start until you hear from insurance. Then tear all sheetrock out of 1st floor down to sticks. This will allow you to get to electrical- mark where water was able to get to and then go another 18 inches above that and replace everything.

          Comment


            #6
            I have not been through but I have built a lot of houses. I would recommend tearing out all tile. Think about sewer water seeping into the grout and getting into hollow spots/hollow tile. Like said above gut the downstairs. If you have OSB sheathing on the walls it won't be good and your remodel will need a lot more work. Definitely don't risk the mold situation, treat it correctly and let it dry.

            Comment


              #7
              Originally posted by BonesandArrow View Post
              I have not been through but I have built a lot of houses. I would recommend tearing out all tile. Think about sewer water seeping into the grout and getting into hollow spots/hollow tile. Like said above gut the downstairs. If you have OSB sheathing on the walls it won't be good and your remodel will need a lot more work. Definitely don't risk the mold situation, treat it correctly and let it dry.
              Our entire exterior has OSB on it before the hardplank and stone went up, didn't even think about that.

              Thanks for all the tips everyone.

              Comment


                #8
                I work for Prime Reconstruction and this is 80% of our work water damage. You have to remove wood floor(if it's there) drywall up to above water line or at least 24". Remove cabinets that are mounted any part at water line of below 24". If the water sits in there for more then 24 hours you WILL have to have mold extractions and test of the air before you can occupy the house again.

                You DO NOT want to screw around with any possibly of black mold.

                Sorry for your damage.

                Comment


                  #9


                  This has a lot of good information from somebody who with experience from last year. It's pretty strongly worded but gets right to the point.

                  Comment


                    #10
                    If you have flood insurance....

                    Your flood adjuster is the one to ask -- I've spent all day today on this, and half the day tomorrow, so don't expect to get all your answers here.

                    Don't throw anything away.
                    You can remove drywall and insulation.
                    The current mitigation (dry out) rate is .52 per square foot....know before you hire someone.

                    I could literally type all night and still not tell you everything.

                    IF you don't have flood insurance, there may be some assistance available from FEMA.

                    Good luck.

                    Comment


                      #11
                      John. This is Thunder. Call me tomorrow. Mom's house flooded in April and had to deal with it. Just finished it and here we are at it again.


                      Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

                      Comment


                        #12
                        My grandmothers house flooded in may and I don't wish that on my worst enemy. We did all of the work ourselves and boy was it a lot of work.

                        Document everything. Insurance will even tell you, you can't take too many pictures...all they can do is say no.

                        Insurance wanted a picture from all 4 corners in every room as it sat, so they could see what was in each room that was affected.

                        Any item that has a value over $100, we had to provide a serial number or model number that could be looked up to find comparable valued items.

                        Insurance instructed us to cut from 4ft down on the sheet rock.

                        Don't remove anything until adjuster has come to look first.

                        Believe me when I say that almost everything in the house will be ruined from smell even if it was not submerged in water. Our mattresses and other things were claimed by insurance because you cannot get the smell of a musty house out of them. I had to wash some of my clothes 6 or 7 times before they got better and even then I ended up just throwing a ton away. ( the house also sat for several days after the flood. It may not be this bad if you got to it immediately.

                        Appliances were covered even if they were still working. Because 6 months down the road they may crap out because of corroded electrical wires and it would be too late to claim then. Stuff like some tvs that we thought would be fine, ending up having streaks on the screen and stuff. I assume from the power cord being plugged in and submerged.

                        We got everything ripped out and bought several huge fans and left them running 24/7 to begin drying things out. We saved what we could and everything else went into huge piles into the back yard. We plan to rent a huge dumpster container for a day and use tractor equipment to load it.

                        As we cleaned everything we ran into more problems like asbestos tiles, termites etc.After all of this and the threat for future flooding, we decided it best to buy my grandmother a trailer and move it onto family land. So I cannot speak for the remodel part.

                        Good luck and have a good talk with your insurance about exactly what to do and what will be covered. Ours sounded easy until it came money time , then they depreciated every value we had estimated and have made it hard to get things covered that need to be and said would be. It has been a pain in the butt. Good luck and I wish you the best!


                        Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

                        Comment


                          #13
                          K-Train
                          Was any of that covered with your normal insurance or with flood insurance only. I'm at 45 south and beltway 8 and my house is not flooded yet but if it keeps on raining anymore like it did Saturday, I'll be under water. How does it work with the people that don't have flood insurance? I've always wondered but never asked and wonder about everyone's house that has flooded. No way that all of them have flood insurance

                          Comment


                            #14
                            Eventually, you will probably want some of this too. For any wood etc that can't be removed/replaced, but still has "that smell..."

                            This stuff WORKS!!

                            Comment


                              #15
                              Originally posted by 2good2Btru View Post
                              K-Train
                              Was any of that covered with your normal insurance or with flood insurance only. I'm at 45 south and beltway 8 and my house is not flooded yet but if it keeps on raining anymore like it did Saturday, I'll be under water. How does it work with the people that don't have flood insurance? I've always wondered but never asked and wonder about everyone's house that has flooded. No way that all of them have flood insurance


                              I'm not real sure, because she had flood insurance and was covered. my father handled most of the insurance stuff so I can't speak for what would have been if she hadn't. I have "heard" that if you live in the "natural disaster zone" you are covered, but I don't know the validity of that. Might be something to check in to.


                              Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

                              Comment

                              Working...
                              X