If You Have A Flooded Basement...

In the majority of situations, people who find that they have a flooded basement, or that the waters have receded, will usually start by contacting their insurance company, although if the basement is still flooded then trying to drain or pump out the water will certainly be a priority.  There is no doubt that it will be a difficult process, and there are a lot of things that will be affected by the consequences of a flooded basement.  But ultimately, it will require a lot of work and often a long time before the basement can be fully repaired and you can be certain there is no more residual damage to come.

One of the biggest problems when it comes to a flooded basement is that much of the woodwork that actually supports the house can become immersed in floodwater.  There are a range of issues that will need to be dealt with when looking at the beams and floorboards that may have been damaged by the flood.  Large wooden beams can often take months to dry out entirely, and one of the hardest things about a flooded basement is that it will mean months of checking on the woodwork to see that it has dried out properly, and that there is nothing that has started to eat away at the wood while it was damp.

Another aspect that will need to be considered for those who are dealing with the aftermath of a flooded basement is to document the damage that has been caused by the flood, and to pass all the relevant information on to the insurance company so that they can start to look at dealing with the insurance claim.  The quicker the insurance company gets all the relevant information, the quickly the problem can be dealt with and any damage be repaired, and the misery caused by the flooded basement can be forgotten and people can get on with their lives.

The consequences of a flooded basement will also require an awful lot of cleaning, as floodwater will usually carry a lot of bacteria and diseases.  And especially if it has a sewage element as a part of the flood water, then cleaning and disinfecting thoroughly will be vital.  It will not only be the walls and the floor either, as everything that will have been contacted by the water will need to be cleaned in the aftermath of the flooded basement, and eliminating any waterborne bacteria will be vital to making the basement safe to be used again.

Dealing with a flooded basement will often have to be done during a stressful time, which can already be a hard time in which to get things done, with so many different areas needing to be considered when resolving the problem.  By doing your best to be calm and being proactive in ensuring the work is done as quickly as possible, the repair of the flooded basement can be completed in a fairly quick and efficient way.