| Immediate Response to building leaks and floods is necessary. This means within 24-48 hours all of the critical steps need to be taken if you want to maximize the chance of avoiding a costly mold cleanup project. |
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| FLOOD FORCE WILL |
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Stop the water entry. Salvage or protect furnishings or possessions which have not yet gotten wet by moving them to dry areas. |
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Remove standing water - Use special pumping equipment to extract water |
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Remove wet carpets, furniture, contents, and boxes of wet stored items. Store items to be salvaged from the flooded area outside or in a garage, not in upper floors of the flooded building. Otherwise you may accidentally carry mold or other contaminants to other building areas. |
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Remove floor trim and lower portions of walls (such as drywall or paneling) (at least 12") and any wall insulation, in rooms where the floors were wet or flooded. Porous materials like drywall or plaster which have been wet cannot effectively be cleaned and should be discarded. |
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How Much Drywall to Cut Off After Flooding: If a floor was wet, even if water did not rise up the walls, we remove no less than the bottom 12" of drywall as well as any floorboard trim. Water on a floor surface enters and wets the wall cavity and often causes a significant but hidden problem mold reservoir in the wall cavity. If mold is visible on a drywall covered wall, we remove drywall to no less than 12" above any visible mold, including inspecting the wall cavity interior for visible mold. |
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Remove upper portions of wall coverings (drywall or paneling) higher than 12" if these areas are wet, or if water entered the wall cavity from above. |
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Remove ceilings that have been flooded from above, regardless of material such as plaster, drywall, or ceiling tiles. Suspended ceiling tiles which have been wet should also be discarded, and the remaining suspended ceiling tiles removed to permit inspection and drying as well as to inspect for evidence of water overhead. |
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If mold is already visible or suspected, use containment to avoid air movement from the damaged (moldy) area to other building areas. Containment generally means negative air and poly plastic barriers are set up and other steps are taken to isolate a moldy or dusty work area from the rest of a building. |
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Surface Cleaning: after rough demolition to remove wet and porous or visibly moldy materials and other items listed above, all remaining loose dirt and debris is removed, and the remaining exposed surfaces such as wall studs and framing, masonry walls, floors, plywood sheathing, is cleaned to remove all loose and surface debris. |
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Surface Disinfection: after area flooding it is safe practice to assume that septic or sewage contaminants accompanied the floodwaters, so disinfection of all building surfaces is part of the cleaning process. |
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Use dehumidifiers, fans, heaters, to dry the exposed building areas and surfaces. |
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Inspect upper building areas and dry or ventilate them. Depending on weather conditions ventilation may mean simply opening windows or use of fans to dry an area. A building attic over a flooded basement is likely to have an excessive moisture level so that area needs inspection and may need venting too. |
