What to Do About a Flooded Basement

Welcome back!

If you are like many Atlantans and your basement is under water, you’ll need to clean it up immediately.  The faster the water flood is cleaned up, the less damage can occur.

The first step is to contact your insurance agency if you have flood insurance.

Your next step is to “Think Safety.” This is a key to successful clean up your basement after a water flood has happened. Before you step foot inside your basement to clean, make sure the electricity to that area is turned off inside your house! If there’s still flood water standing in your basement, don’t walk in it!  If your breaker box is in the basement and not reachable, then call a licensed electrician before you begin before you set foot in your flooded basement. A licensed electrician can tell you if it’s safe to walk in the water. If it’s not, he can also repair the problem while he’s there.

Anytime you smell natural gas in or around your basement, especially after a water flood, contact your gas provider immediately!  If you know how to shut the gas off, then do so. Otherwise, open all the windows and doors of your house, evacuate the premises, and refrain from smoking, cooking, creating sparks or flames.

Now, once your basement is safe to walk in, it’s time to clean up after the water flood.  Use a pump or a Shop Vac™ to remove the flood water from your basement. Flood water that is several feet deep needs to be removed at a slow rate. Because, if the water is pumped out too fast, the action will create a low pressure on the inside of your basement. Thus, the pressure on the outside will be higher, and your basement walls can easily fall in.

Once the flood water is removed from your basement, open up the windows and doors, and set up several fans to help dry the basement out.  A dehumidifier is also suggested, however these seem to be sold out in and around the Atlanta area.

Continue your clean up by removing furniture, carpeting, rugs, etc. Then, use a scoop shovel to remove mud or debris that are left on the floor.

Some rugs and room-sized carpets can be saved by drying them out and cleaning them up. However, if the flood water in your basement contained sewage, or if they’re moldy, you’ll need to discard the rugs or carpets instead. After the floor coverings are dried and have been swept, you should use a commercial steam carpet cleaner and detergent to clean up any savable floor coverings. (Home carpet cleaners aren’t usually powerful enough to handle the task.)
Vacuum the basement floor to remove as much water as possible. Then, mop the bare floor with household bleach and hot water. You’ll also need to wash the walls as well, to kill germs and bacteria.

Electronic items that were submerged in the basement flood water, or even just got water on them, should be checked by a professional repairman before they are plugged in again.

Mix up a strong solution of household bleach and hot water in a bucket to clean up any personal items you wish to keep. Wipe them dry, then allow them to set out in the sunshine to help further sanitize and deodorize them.

Paper products such as books, magazines, and photos can’t usually be saved once they are damaged by flood water.  Any irreplaceable photos you’d like to save may possibly be repaired by a professional photo shop.

Best of luck to you and your household!