Oh no!! There’s A LOT of water on the floor!

It’s not uncommon…water damage events happen.  According to This Old House, about 25% of home insurance claims filed from 2018 to 2022 were due to water damage or freezing, second only to wind or hail damage, and the average claim for water damage or freezing costs nearly $14,000.  Even if you do have insurance, a small claim might be below your deductible, so you’ll have to pay.  This happened recently at a small local church, where the baptistry got overfilled and about ⅓ of the sanctuary carpet (main church space) was soaked with water. 

Church members were called out, and they did their best to remove water with mops on the hard surfaces and shop-vacs on the carpet.  Residential fans and a couple dehumidifiers were placed around the room, but two days later, it was clear from the smell and soggy carpet that the water wasn’t going away fast enough.  They had to call a restoration company, to the tune of $3,000 (the insurance deductible, to save money on premiums, was set at $7500).  For some this may not sound like much (even a good deal), but for a church with less than 15 regular members attending, it was a hit to the budget.

Personally, I’ve tried to “multi-task” in the kitchen and walked away from filling a counter-top water filter, only to have it overflow (thankfully I was still in the same room when I heard the water run onto the floor).  What are the lessons here, besides being more attentive with running water?  

Safeguards are certainly helpful… whether it’s having personal accountability or mechanical accountability!  To explain, you could tell someone what you are about to do (fill up a bathtub, hot tub, pool, sink etc.) with the idea that they will check in with you to make sure it’s turned off.  Even better, make sure the overflow is connected/plumbed/working before you start, and have leak detectors placed at strategic places so that you’ll hear a piercing alarm or get an alert on your phone. 

When the church members arrived, they:

1. Made sure that no more water was being spilled by checking the water level in the baptistry tub (it stayed the same so there were no other leaks).  

2. Opened up vents underneath the raised area of the pulpit and altar in order to access this void for vacuuming and drying

3. Went to work with shop-vacs

4. Placed fans, dehumidifiers and heaters (to increase evaporation) around the wet areas. 

If the worst happens, though…large amounts of water in contact with carpet or drywall in general need professional help.  The shop-vacs, small household fans and even 5-gallon dehumidifiers were too small to handle this amount of water removal.  Walking into the sanctuary 3-½ days later, the restoration company had 14 large “air mover” drying fans and 6 smaller ones placed around the room, and one large dehumidifier running.  It was a far cry from the resources the church owned… and well worth it, considering that one of these larger fans is valued at $230 minimum, bringing the total to $3220 if they were just to purchase this number of large fans (not counting the small ones, dehumidifier, vacuums and labor).  When you have a big disaster, big “guns” are needed.

This brings us to the next point: time is of the essence.  Although the church cleanup crew was hopeful, the way they knew it was not working was the smell that started two days later.  Not coincidentally, 48 hours is the time it takes for mold to start growing.  The combination of older carpet, moisture and time is a recipe for mold, and, looking back, calling the restoration company even 12 hours earlier could have made a difference in the smell, which required additional treatment after the carpet was dry.  Speaking with the restoration company, they use a proprietary germicidal solution during cleanup, and may go in with an additional wintergreen “deodorizer” if necessary.  Although wintergreen smells ok to me, it’s better to have “clean” with no scents when the general public is involved, because removing odor-causing microbes is better than covering them up with scented products every time, and some people have odor sensitivities.  

The timeline that caused the smelly situation is likely due to the flooding happening over a weekend (Saturday afternoon for a Sunday morning baptism).  The baptism went ahead, with most of the congregation sitting on the “dry” side of the church.  Then, the sanctuary was closed up again Sunday afternoon to “wait and see” if it would dry out with the meager fans and dehumidifiers.  The smell started Monday morning, but a decision was not made to call the restoration company until Monday evening, and they agreed to come Tuesday morning.  It was already nearly 3 days later when they removed the remaining water, so mold had definitely started.  Being in a rural area and not wanting to pay for a weekend callout, this is understandable, but it probably would have been possible to get started 1 day earlier.  

As homeowners, we can be prepared for such an event with the following takeaways:

1. Review/evaluate your insurance coverage in light of a possible flooding event.  In case you need to get professional help, will you be paying out-of-pocket for these services and do you have a small savings for such an event?

2. Check local rental companies or hardware stores to see if they have large vacuums, fans and dehumidifiers for rent, and how much they cost.  In the case above, being on a weekend, most companies are closed on Saturday evenings/Sundays so this would not have helped, but it’s good to know.

3. You may already have an “emergency call-out team” in mind, but discussing emergencies with neighbors or family in advance is always helpful!  Letting others know that you are there for them when the water hits the floor can help them make the same commitment to you and your home.  

4. We can’t emphasize early leak detection enough; check out our article for products and ideas!  

5. Stopping the water is foremost; getting as much water out as you can is good if you have the resources and strength.  

6. Removal of carpet is generally necessary if you have a plywood subfloor.  If the carpet is on a slab (as in the above example), it’s possible to dry it out. 

7. Make sure that all flooded voids (under cabinets, appliances, etc.) exposed to moving air so that water doesn’t remain and allow mold to grow.

8. Calling professionals is not a sign of weakness, it’s a wise move because water is the “fuel” that mold needs to take root, and the sooner it’s completely removed, the better!  For large water damage events, they have the equipment and manpower to knock out the problem quickly.  The sooner you call, the better, because odor is also a problem that’s difficult to resolve.

9. You may want to check up with air quality/mold testing some time after the cleanup/restoration is complete to make sure that no pockets of water were missed.

Photo by Hojojenks V on Unsplash