When I was complaining about the flooding that recently took place here in GA…and in particular, our own home…I never expected such an outpouring of encouragement.  Your kind words got us through it peeps.  So thank you from the bottoms of our hearts.

Overall – we had very little damage because of the flood.  But I thought I would share with you what we did to counterattack the onslaught of dirty water that decided to take up residence in our newly finished basement.  Our situation started with Jeremy discovering that the water had entered the space and was creeping along under the hardwood boards.  When he stepped into our workroom – SLOSH.  It was about 1/2″ of water.  Since this area of the basement was one that we had been using for storage and was currently NOT watersealed…I figure that our experience is closest to what normally goes down when a flood strikes. 

First – my boyfriend broke out the shopvac and some towels for soaking.  After he got the majority of the water up in the lower concrete-floor area, it was time to break out the fans and remove the rugs, furniture and any other item that might get damaged from water.  By four o’clock in the afternoon, we both assumed the worse was over.

 

Around five pm, I got home and found Jeremy in panic-mode.  Apparently, he found out that the water was not coming in the back door (like we had previously assumed) but through a crack in the cinder-block wall in the workroom area.  I ran inside and immediately started getting buckets out (mine were drink pails – but hey, they worked!) to squeeze the sopping wet towels into.  Both my dad and Torrey were there to help too.  Believe me, we couldn’t have done it alone!

So four hours later, we identified the area where we believe the water was making the grand entrance.        

A semi-circle of playsand bags helped ensure that any future leakage (heehee…I said ‘leakage’) would be contained.  They were laid in a brick-like pattern to cover the seams for maximum flood-water-containage.   

Thankfully my boyfriend had moved the majority of his tools outta the workroom and into our garage during the previous weekend.  So the damage-causing-water was far-far-away from our ‘home-improvement-station’.  The garage also took shape as a rug-drying station.  We recommend that you dry rugs over a couple of saw-horses or some chairs…do not hang the rugs from a rope that you attached to the garage-door-track.  It won’t be good.  We speak from experience.   

In the end, minimal damage ensued.  A couple of our unfinished baseboards took a hit.  Thankfully – we hadn’t invested the time yet to finish them up. 

And our newly laid flooring…well, it definitely received a little wrinkle-treatment.  Now it looks a little more rustic than chic.  But hey – that’s what area rugs are for…right?!?!

Overall – our underwater experience was no biggie.  I even told my boyfriend that it was just good practice for the future (very, very future) day when I go into labor.  It was God preparing him for when my water breaks.  Either that or when we have kids – and everything gets ruined anyway 🙂 

So – in review, it is a good idea to water seal your basement…all of it.  And definitely have a few things on hand – just in case a minor flood comes your way such as:

• shop-vac
• buckets (or drink pails)
• old towels
• sandbags
• fans
• dehumidifier

For a few tips on how to waterseal your basement – check out this post.  And if you have anything you think is oh-so-necessary for a minor flooding incident, let us know by leaving it in the comment section.  Otherwise – stay high and dry 🙂