Wet Basements and Crawl Spaces in Cartersville, GA

Four things to skip in a wet basement

• Pumping before the power is checked. For a wet-dry vacuum or a pump, CDC wants an electrician to confirm the power first.

• Pumping with a gasoline engine indoors. The re-entry page keeps a gasoline engine outside, 20 feet from any opening into the house.

• Starting the furnace and air system to dry things out. CDC wants the heating and air system inspected before it runs again after a flood.

• Wading out through fast water. GEMA's flood-safety page warns that 6 inches of fast current is enough to take a person's feet out from under them.

Around Cartersville

• The September 2009 floods are the local benchmark for how high the river can come. The Cartersville page has the gauge numbers from the Weather Service's table.

• The USGS fact sheet on that month says Allatoona Lake rose more than 13 feet above full pool and that the dam still protected Rome, downstream.

• UGA Extension's checklist asks for plastic sheeting 6 to 8 mil thick over crawl space soil, downspouts that discharge 6 to 10 feet from the house, and a grade that drops about 6 inches over that run.

On the visit itself

1. Call (678) 288-4775, give the depth and name what stands in the water, and ask for a visit from the contractor.

2. A look at the way in: through a wall, up a floor drain, over a window well or out of a pipe.

3. A check on what is plugged in or stored down there, and what the water reached.

4. A plan for pumping, drying and airing out, with fans set to blow outward.

5. A look at the crawl space soil and its plastic cover, if the house has one.

6. A talk about repair or replacement of carpet, drywall and trim at the foot of the walls.

Going downstairs, in order

1. Is the panel, an outlet or a cord in the water?

   Do not go down. The electric utility or an electrician comes before anything else.

2. Is the water gray, brown or foul-smelling?

   Treat it as contaminated. See backed-up drains.

3. Did it follow a hard rain, with no pipe involved?

   In daylight, look at the downspouts and at ground that slopes toward the house.

4. Is a sump pump, water heater or furnace involved?

   Photograph the equipment and mention its age on the call.

5. Is the water still rising?

   Leave the lower level and move people and cars to higher ground.

What a wet basement tends to put on the list

• Finished carpetCDC lists rugs among the things thrown away after floodwater when they cannot be disinfected; a clean-water case is different
• Drywall at the foot of the wallsCDC lists drywall the same way; the contractor decides how high the wet reaches
• Furniture and boxesList them. FEMA's claim list asks for a record of damaged items
• Concrete and bare blockThe pages give no rule; the contractor decides

Next to a wet basement

• 

  Standing water and soaked carpetWhen the wet has climbed to the first floor

• 

  Backed-up drainsWhen the water came up a drain

• 

  Dark spots after a leakWhen the room has sat damp for days