I have a project to bid on. A house that was flooded.
On a slab, 4 feet of water. Sheetrock and insulation already removed.
I’ll be removing the USG gypsum sheathing for the first 4 fett and re-sheathing with plywood.
There is a white, hairy substance growing on the concrete floor. What might it be?
Water was there for a week. What should I do to the slab, what do I do to the studs, and do I need professional help.
Not that type of professional help. I mean in dealing with the water damage.
Finally get a job to run and it has to be THIS one.
Thanks.
Glenn
Replies
that will be a nightmare...
all that flood water sitting there contaminating everything... can we say cesspool???
you thinks there's hairy crud now .. wait a month or too... all that framing will have it... ain't enough Clorox in the state to kill all the stuff that will start growing and never seems to quit....
you got you a canidate for the scifi channel mini series...
make sure yur insurance is bullet proof...
Life is not a journey to the grave with the intention of arriving safely in a pretty and well preserved body, but rather to skid in broadside, thoroughly used up, totally worn out, and loudly proclaiming
WOW!!! What a Ride!
Forget the primal scream, just ROAR!!!
Lots of bad there; some small potential bit of good, too.
Good rule of thumb is to remove all interior wall board to 2' above the water line reached. If ti was 4' deep in side, that's 6' of tearout, which means it's almost simpler to strip 8' walls entire. Be prepared to find very nasty, clay-y, sandy, silt in the walls to surprising depths. It will fill all of the electrical boxes, too--so keep that power off. Most of any existing insulation will be junk, too (another argument for fully stripping walls).
White crud on floor? Could be any thing. Take a thin edge shovel to it and scrape it off. You'll probably need to TSP the floors, too. You are absolutely going to have to get a fungicide sprayed on all the wall structure--luckily that's not tough, it's only a 1% bleach solution, really. That being said, you may wind up wanting to spray lacquer kilz/Bin (not water-base) over the dried framing, boxes, etc.
What sort of exterior is on this house? You may find that there's lots more fun to cope with than first glance provides. Cementitious siding on felt paper on at least "resistant" sheathing would be good. Brick veneer on slapped-on housewrap ofe cheapie osb/flake board sheathing--nitghtmare city.
I'd not spend a lot of effor replacing drywall with plywood, though. Even if the area floods every year, there are too many penetrations in the average wall to keep water out (and if it were perfectly sealed, the wall would become bouyant in a flood, potentially ripping it off the slab anyway). Now, if you want to put back paper-less wall board, or a "dens" product, you can, and with some logic.
The gotcha in that last sentance is the "x' factor of opening up any wall in any house. You just never know what you might find. Missing framing; abandoned electrical; abandoned, and still connected, gas plumbing, and so on. Before I'd dedicate a company-issued budget line item to paperless wallboard, I'd get al lthe wall open to find out whether or not cripples were ever installed under all the windows . . .
BTDT, don't want that shirt back, any of them.
Probably going to spray with a bleach solution. Have been told that's the way to go.The exterior gypsum has been soaked 4 times in the last 40 years, twice in the last 3. Don't trust it's structural properties.
exterior gypsum has been soaked
Well, I don't credit exterior gypsum sheathing with that much strength from get-go.
Don't discount that coat of kilz, though--it can quash any latent smells that might wait for the rebuilt wall assembly to get back to summertime temperatures (this can be critical down Beaumont-way).Occupational hazard of my occupation not being around (sorry Bubba)
So, i guess bleach solution, then Kilz. Regular primer? Latex or shellac based.
Had a bad time with the shellac based.
Dropped it on a clients bluestone patio. It opened. Manhood ran away. I wanted to cry.
It doesn't wash out.
Boy, did that day suck.
Glenn
> So, i guess bleach solution, then Kilz.There's an anti-mildew cleaner that's better than bleach. It's mentioned on the Kilz anti-mildew paint can. It works great.> Regular primer? Latex or shellac based.The Kilz anti-mildew paint is a good primer. Don't use latex.> Dropped <shellac> on a clients bluestone patio. It opened.
> It doesn't wash out.Actually, it washes out pretty well if you use denatured alcohol. Lots of it.George Patterson
A friend of mine works with pavers, bluestone, etc. He was my first call. He said mineral spirits then Tide.I bought mineral spirits and denatured alcohol and Tide. Nothing.Maybe just not enough of the alcohol.I ended up turning them over and learning how to smooth the rough sides.As long as the homeowner, who has been terrific about it, likes them, I saved myself a couple hundred bucks.Thanks for the Kilz info.Glenn
To remove the shellac based stuff the most cost effective solvent is ammonia. (It's a true solvent for shellac.)
So, i guess bleach solution, then Kilz. Regular primer?
It doesn't wash out
Correct progression. Absolute do not use the water-based laytex in BN or Kilz, for exactly the reason the bluestoen demonstrated. The water-base kilz is a color killer thats much nicer to share with in under-ventilated spaces.
Smoke, stains, smells--lacquer-based is the way to go. Since you will have a good stripping already completed, you can use a power sprayer to make a nice even coat of it that can come down and join the floor as well.
If the place floods again, the white primer will give some protection, not much, but some. Best part will be that the enxt crew will absolutely know when all the silt is out of the bays, boxes, etc.Occupational hazard of my occupation not being around (sorry Bubba)
I'd be surprised if the growing white stuff were fungus, because of the alkalinity of the concrete. It may be latence, which can be swept or vacuumed up. Have a few experienced construction folks look at it to see if it looks familiar.
can we say "bulldozer"
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