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Cleaning and Repairing Flooded Basements repairs floods basements cleaning
Cleaning and Repairing Flooded Basements Entering Before you enter a flooded basement: 1. Turn off the electricity, preferably at the meter.2. Check outside cellar walls for possible cave-ins, evidence of structural damage or other hazards. 3. Turn off gas or fuel service valves. 4. Open doors and windows, or use blowers to force freshair into the basement. Pumping Do not use an electric pump powered by your own electrical system. Use a gas-powered pump, or one connected to an outside line. Fire departments in some communities may help with such services. More damage maybe done by pumping water from the basement too soon or too quickly, than from letting the floodwater remain.Water in the basement helps brace the walls against the extra pressure of water-logged soil outside. If water ispumped out too soon, walls may be pushed up. To help prevent such structural damage, pump thewater from the basement in stages. Remove about a third of the water each day. Watch walls for signs of failing.If the outside water level rises again after the day's pumping, start with a new water line. The soil may bevery slow to drain, but do not hurry the pumping. Whatever is submerged in the flooded basement will not be damaged further by delaying the pumping; seriousstructural damage may be prevented. CleaningAfter water has been pumped from the basement, shovel out the mud and debris while it is still moist. Hose down walls to remove as much silt as possible before it dries. Floors and walls may need sanitizing, particularly ifsewage has entered the basement. Scrub walls and floors with one of these sanitizing solutions; 1. Chloride of lime (25% available chlorine). Dissolve a12-ounce can in 2 gallons of water. 2. High test hypochlorite (65% available chlorine). Stir5 ounces into 2 gallons of water. Oil stains in basements caused by overturned or damaged oil tanks may also be a problem following flooding. Commercial products (such as Neutroda) will helpneutralize fuel oil spray for hard to reach places. To remove oil stains and destroy odor, wipe up excess oil, shake or spray product on the spot according to manufacturer's directions, and let it set.Repairing Check supporting columns, beams, walls, and floors.Structural damage to flooded basements usually includes buckled walls, settled walls, or heaved floors. Buckled walls are evidenced by horizontal cracking and walls moving out of plumb. When this condition is minor, you need not repair the wall immediately. However, anynoticeably buckled wall will eventually collapse fromnormal ground pressures and season temperature changes. When buckling has seriously weakened the wall, rebuild the damaged parts immediately. Build pilasters into walls over 15 feet long for reinforcement. Pilaster spacingshould be 12 to 15 feet.Settled walls and footing are indicated by verticalcracks either in small areas or throughout the structure. Repairs are difficult without special equipment. Contacta reliable contractor for this work. Heaved floors are those that have not returned to their original level, or have cracked badly. You may need to construct a new floor. 1. Remove old, broken concrete. 2. Place 6 inches of gravel fill on the basement floor surface.3. Cover area with a polyethylene vapor barrier.4. Lay a 4 inch concrete floor with mastic joints between the floor and walls. The floor should bereinforced with steel. Welded wire reinforcement placed at mid-height in the slab is a minimum reinforcement.If a floor is badly cracked, but has returned to itsoriginal level, and if there is sufficient headroom, place a new floor over the old one. Add a vapor barrier between the two floors. The new floor should be at least2 inches thick.In houses without basements the area below the floormay be completely filled with mud. Remove the mud as soon as possible to avoid rotting joists or foundation wood. This article was written by Anne Field, Extension Specialist, Emeritus, with reference from the USDADisaster Handbook.This information is for educational purposes only. References to commercial products or trade names does not imply endorsement by MSU Extension or bias against those not mentioned. This information becomes public property upon publication and may be printed verbatim with credit to MSU Extension. This file was generated from data base 02 on 06/24/03. Data base 02 was last revised on 12/04/98. 11173Michigan State University ExtensionHome Maintenance and Repair - 01500312 12/04/98
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