Due to all the rain, I have water in my basement. It is not flooded, just leaks, but I am panicking about mold. Although I haven't seen mold, I know that I need to take more action. Do I call my homeowner's insurance or a restoration company? Thanks.
Get some bleach water and spray around the areas where water was. Lift up items and keep them off the ground so the bleach water will go everywhere.
Please take precautions so you don't breath in all those fumes.
Shop vacs, sump pumps, fans, dehumidifiers, etc are fixes for after you get/are getting the water.
What you really need is a basement waterproofing company to advise what's needed to STOP the water: sealer, french drains, etc. Google "basement waterproofing" in your area.
If it's a small amount, use a shop vac and then buy a dehumidifier. This will get rid of the dampness in the short term.
In the long run, look at several things. The first is the landscaping around your house. Make sure that the ground slopes away from your house on all sides. You may need to do some serious moving of dirt to make this happen, but it is the best and first thing to do. It might also mean putting in a french drain in the yard if your yard gets swampy. Again, this isn't technically difficult, but it is serious manual labor to dig the trench. Make sure that all your gutters from your roof take the water well away from the house, and that they don't dump the water next to your foundation. Many water problems can be solved by just having rain water run away from your foundation instead of toward it during a storm.
Once you've done that, if it's still damp and your basement is not finished, you can have someone give you a quote on water sealing the walls from the inside.
Call a company for a quote-call a few. If the quotes are high you will need to claim it. But if you call your homeowners they are going to want quotes. These companies are overloaded right now. If any of your neighbors are getting work done try to get a quote from that company-it may be lower if they are already in your neighborhood. My city (mamapedia doesn't have the accurate city listed) was declared a disaster after last Monday's storm. There are many still cleaning their basements-but there are some whose basements didn't get wet at all. If your basement get wet their may be an
issue. And you want that taken care of immediately.
De-humidifier for sure, and keep an eye on the leaks. You may need the basement water proofed, even if only certain spots.
Google it and you'll find lots of information.
If you don't already have one, get a shop vac. If you can keep the water from sitting and soaking into things you should be fine.
It may not be covered by your insurance, not sure, but if it is it is subject to your deductible so chances are it isn't worth filing a claim. You would have to do the math yourself. In my world the damage would have to be at least 3,000 above the deductible to file a claim because it was raise your insurance rate after you make the claim.
Oh and box fans, get some of those, you need to keep the air moving.
My husband's old home has a cellar, not a basement, like there is earth not cement on the floor. Anyway it leaked all the time. All he had was a pump to remove the water, two box fans and a dehumidifier. Never got mold down there.
You need to get it dried out asap. If it's just little puddles of water in an unfinished basement then mop it up and throw a couple fans in the basement to help dry it out. If it's a finished basement you need to remove the drywall that's wet, the insulation too and then use fans to dry it out. If this is caused by rain then your insurance may not pay for it.
