Annually, restoration professionals respond to floods that occur in various geographical regions of the country. The following excerpts are from an interview with SCRT Technical Advisor Jeff Bishop on a local radio station that featured clean-up advice for flood victims.
There’s more to cleaning up after a flood than a simple vacuuming. What kinds of dangers are involved in cleaning up a flooded basement?
Jeff Bishop: There’s a significant difference between Category 1 (clean) water damage and flooding. When bodies of water overflow their natural boundaries and water flows across the ground, it picks up soil bacteria and fungi, animal and bird droppings, decaying insects and animals, fertilizers, pesticides – all sorts of unsavory stuff. Also, varmints and snakes are going to move to high ground in a flood, and that high ground may be your home. Watch for these hazards particularly in crawlspaces.
Additionally, water penetrates into every crack and crevice in a home or building. The biggest mistake property owners make is not using appropriate safety measures, and not opening pockets of saturation to clean and disinfect them thoroughly. Wall and floor cavities can harbor all manner of microorganisms that can grow and amplify in warm, dark, humid cavities. Homeowners probably won’t know what’s happening until sensitive family members start having allergic or other reactions to mold or bacteria.
How do you know what items can be cleaned and which ones should just be thrown out?
JB: Anything that can be washed with hot water and detergent in a washing machine or dishwasher usually can be saved. Of course, non-porous items made of plastic, metal, glass, porcelain and ceramic – all those can be washed thoroughly and dipped in or saturated with disinfectant.
It’s the highly porous materials that can’t be cleaned completely that shouldn’t be salvaged – items like pillows, mattresses, box springs, upholstery, wicker furniture, paper goods and stuffed animals. That also includes carpet and padding, and wood flooring that has channels underneath into which the water penetrates. Get rid of the sheet vinyl flooring in bathrooms or kitchen as well, and when water penetrates under laminate flooring, that must come out. In some cases, the plywood or pressed board subfloor may not be salvable.
Basically, if a material can’t be accessed and cleaned and disinfected thoroughly, it’s a candidate for disposal.
What about furniture; should all types of furniture that went through a flood be thrown away, or could a person save it?
JB: You should properly remove and dispose of upholstery, furniture and bedding that is contacted by flood water. Some wood furniture, if not badly warped or damaged, and depending on value, might be meticulously cleaned with detergents. Metal and plastic furnishings should be OK if cleaned and disinfected thoroughly.
Many people have finished basements with paneling or even drywall; can those types of walls be salvaged?
JB: The simple answer is no. The problem is that those materials are porous or semi-porous, and they enclose pockets into which the flood water has penetrated. Baseboard, drywall, insulation, all those materials must be removed up to a line that’s 15 to 24 inches above the visible water line. And then, the exposed cavities must be aggressively cleaned and disinfected, usually with pressurized water, followed by disinfecting.
Mold can be quite a problem; if a person finds that mold and mildew has developed in their wet basement, how can they effectively get rid of it?
JB: Two words: clean and dry. For mold to grow quickly, it requires five conditions:
- 1.Organic food source like paper, wood, soil
- 2.Moisture or high humidity – no moisture, no mold
- 3.Moderate temperature; laboratories incubate most household molds at about 77°F, although they germinate, grow and amplify well in a range of 68°F to 86°F. Below that range, growth is slowed and the response-time envelope is considerably extended
- 4.Stagnant air – most microbes don’t like fresh moving air, which removes moisture from surfaces
- 5.Time – germination takes about two to three days under ideal conditions for most household molds; some a little longer
If you see a little mold growing in a shower, on a window frame or in a basement, clean it up with a little detergent. If the detergent has a little alcohol in it, it probably disinfects, or kills, active mold as well.
Once you clean it up, to prevent it from coming back, you’ve got to keep the area or basement dry. Several ways to do this:
- 1.Keeps air circulation going with box or ceiling fans.
- 2.Make sure the basement is getting conditioned air from the HVAC system to dry it out over time.
- 3.Install a dehumidifier with a control that turns it on when humidity reaches a certain level – say around 60% RH.
If anyone would like more information on safe flood clean-up techniques, who could they contact?
JB: The IICRC S500 Standard and Reference Guide for Professional Water Damage Restoration covers procedures for restoring contaminated buildings. To find a Certified Firm in your area that employs water damage restoration professionals, listeners may call the IICRC hotline at (800) 835-4624 or go to www.certifiedcleaners.org.
