flooded basement- advices about anything & everything please!

[feyzanour]

hi everyone,

We just moved to a house last month. I still had most of our moving boxes in the basement unpacked. Full of my precious dowry, linens, bedding, clothes %90 brand new-still tags on, books, paperwork... I mean everything we used was in the basement since it was cool there and we liked it.

The power was out at 3 am and pumps didnot work and we got flooded. I am devestated. For the last 48 hrs I am carrying the soaked stuff upstairs, squeze them by hand, wash & dry 50 loads of laundry, clean wet surfaces . Everything smells mold already, delicate handmade stuff's colors run on other clothes which just made me cry so bad

I am not even talking about cleaning &drying the basment up! That is somethingelse .

I need any kind of advice, please share experiences about cleaning the basement, drying or replacing the basement carpet, saving the delicate cothes, laundry, etc....

I also want to learn what can i ask for from the landlord. What is my right and his responsibility? This is 1st time i experienced it so I need any kind of advice. I am still in shcock, hoping someone to poke me and tell me it was just a bad dream.

I even lost all my coupons.

Thanks!

.

[CW&M Mom]

It is the landlords responsibility to clean up the entire basement/carpet/walls ect. He should of already called in a company to start the process. He should have insurance for this. They need to pull up the carpet, throw away the pad, dry it all out, replace pad, put down carpet or replace carpet depending on how bad it is.

Typically your stuff is your stuff. You should have renters insurance..and typically the landlord is not responsible for your personal belongings

You can contact places that do salvage/floods and ask what cleaners they use for linens...and purchase from them. That may help with some of the linens. Simple green works really well for things that are washable. For your books and paper...they are probably a total loss.

[meggers]

I'm so sorry you're going through this. I wish I had some advice for you, but hopefully others will.

[Gertie2u]

I am sorry you are going through this.

This works best if you either haven't dried already (best) or if you have just air-dried anything that got the colors that ran on it. Try washing them with a double the amount suggested clorox II. Start with items that are less delicate / items that did not run but just caught color. Items that ran, do this by hand separately in the sink. I had something very similar happen. I called a dry cleaner/laundry service place and that's what he told me to do. Worked really well, in that no more pink striped this and that. Did fade colors slightly, but not noticeable on most things to anyone but me. For really badly stained cases, or if you dried it in the dryer, he said we could use up to three times the amount. I had a couple of items I did this with. It didn't seem to have any ill effects.

As to the moldy smells issues, everything needs washed down with bleach that can be, which it sounds like you are doing. Hope your landlord is doing his part. We learned the hard way always put stuff in the basement up on blocks. Sure makes using a top load washer interesting. If your landlord isn't helping or can't get hold of him right away or whatever, has the basement drained yet? If not, some bleach in the water may help once you've got your stuff out of it. If it has, wash what you can like floors and walls with bleach. It won't get to what is inside your walls, but might slow down the stink a bit until the landlord can handle things.

[Jenjill]

I am sorry this happened to you. I have no experience in flooding but the advice given above is all helpful. Just wanted to let you know I feel for you. Keep us posted on how you make out.

[Jen1]

Do you have a dehumidifer down there? Sometimes that helps dry up moisture in the air too, which causes some of the stink.
I reccomend a product called mida-aire from a waterproofing company.

Water in basements suck, hope your drys out quickly

[abond0017]

You should definitely call your landlord and insist on him starting a clean up asap before mold really has a chance to take hold. I would also think about getting a dehumidifier or asking the landlord to purchase one for you to use as they are not cheap, if you sense any sort of moisture left over after it is cleaned up. As far as getting any sort of reimbursement for your personal belongings...that is up to your renters ins if you have it. There are some types of flooding issues that are typically not covered.

After it is all cleaned up I would definitely also recommend like Gertie to put your stuff up on blocks or pallets. Also another good thing that will be a bit expensive at first but has saved us with some flooding issues is to store your stuff in plastic rubber maid bins...not cardboard boxes. This will help keep your stuff dry and alos help keep mold at bay if you do by chance have another flood issue.

Good luck with everything...sorry so much was damaged.