need help ASAP with flood emergency!

i had a flood upstairs like a complete dumbass! i was filling a res and got distracted and probably put 20 gal on the floor. it soaked through the wood flooring and was coming through the ceiling on the first floor living room .

spare me the lectures lol. i need some bad ass ideas of what i can do to help things out. ive got all the water soaked up but there is obviously quite a bit between the 1st and 2nd floor in the subflooring. thats what im worried about. im thinking i can pull up some floor boards and pump fans in there to speed the drying, theres no real way for me to get in there. i was also thinking that once seemingly dry i would pump a bunch of powdered bleach or comet into the sub flooring to coat it all in a fine layer there to prevent mold from being able to take hold.

i fucked up big time
any input is greatly appreciated guys.

the flooring is already damaged in there and needed to be replaced anyway just i can pull up the affected area to make sure it breathes properly. from there i can cut a whole through the sub flooring to ventilate and fumigate

DesertHydro said:

i had a flood upstairs like a complete dumbass! i was filling a res and got distracted and probably put 20 gal on the floor. it soaked through the wood flooring and was coming through the ceiling on the first floor living room .

spare me the lectures lol. i need some bad ass ideas of what i can do to help things out. ive got all the water soaked up but there is obviously quite a bit between the 1st and 2nd floor in the subflooring. thats what im worried about. im thinking i can pull up some floor boards and pump fans in there to speed the drying, theres no real way for me to get in there. i was also thinking that once seemingly dry i would pump a bunch of powdered bleach or comet into the sub flooring to coat it all in a fine layer there to prevent mold from being able to take hold.

i fucked up big time
any input is greatly appreciated guys.

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House or appartment?

How much water flooded? Start by turning the heat up, opening the windows, and getting fans running.

Alienwidow said:

House or appartment?

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Two story house. I've got fans galore going. I think I'm gonna cut the hole in the morning and dump some napa floor dry in there and then shop vac it out

DesertHydro said:

Two story house. I've got fans galore going. I think I'm gonna cut the hole in the morning and dump some napa floor dry in there and then shop vac it out

Click to expand...

The damage is already done, theres really nothing you can do except find where the water is pooling in the ceiling and poke a small hole to drain it. Otherwise its all gone down the walls and you should be ok. Itll drop into the subfloor eventually through a crack. Black mold takes a while of constant wet and cold to start.

Do you see any spots where the ceiling is getting wet yet? Like under floor vents?

no not at all. i think most of the water was contained by the flooring itself and maybe a couple gallons made it through at worst. i wrung out towel after towel and then the floor dry took care of the rest. there is no active dripping anymore. i dried the downstairs floor 30 min ago and there is no more droplets so thats why im pretty sure not much made it into the subflooring. there is a big wooden beam with a gap in the drywall where it was coming through but not anymore. i will ventilate the shit out of that subflooring tomorrow.

DesertHydro said:

no not at all. i think most of the water was contained by the flooring itself and maybe a couple gallons made it through at worst. i wrung out towel after towel and then the floor dry took care of the rest. there is no active dripping anymore. i dried the downstairs floor 30 min ago and there is no more droplets so thats why im pretty sure not much made it into the subflooring. there is a big wooden beam with a gap in the drywall where it was coming through but not anymore. i will ventilate the shit out of that subflooring tomorrow.

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Just dont hack the floors up and shit unless theres a reason for it. I dont think black mold will set in this fast. Just keep the temps up and windows open. Usually guys fllod with ro systems because they forget them and dont have float valves on their rez.

thank you for your help and advice. i needed someone to bounce ideas off of. i will mount fans in the nearby crawl space thing and hopefully get a little air flow up there for now

DesertHydro said:

thank you for your help and advice. i needed someone to bounce ideas off of. i will mount fans in the nearby crawl space thing and hopefully get a little air flow up there for now

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Thats what were here for. I hope she drys out for ya. And i think those float valves are like three bucks and all you need is a step bit to install them.

DesertHydro said:

i had a flood upstairs like a complete dumbass! i was filling a res and got distracted and probably put 20 gal on the floor. it soaked through the wood flooring and was coming through the ceiling on the first floor living room .

spare me the lectures lol. i need some bad ass ideas of what i can do to help things out. ive got all the water soaked up but there is obviously quite a bit between the 1st and 2nd floor in the subflooring. thats what im worried about. im thinking i can pull up some floor boards and pump fans in there to speed the drying, theres no real way for me to get in there. i was also thinking that once seemingly dry i would pump a bunch of powdered bleach or comet into the sub flooring to coat it all in a fine layer there to prevent mold from being able to take hold.

i fucked up big time
any input is greatly appreciated guys.

Click to expand...

hahahaha it is not that bad i done worst as a kid this is fairly simple

if can put buckets and towels in the drip zone controll the over all area of dampness

2nd thing is u need a heat source and a fan ........ideally u want to make a dry heat hit the area of dampness .....(this keeps it from molding and drys it out as fast as possible ).....a electrical heater the old coil and fan works best
3rd and 4th thing ......depending on how long it takes to dry a spray of bleach and water might be needed in the area to kill off any slight mold that started the 4th thing is to hit the whole area with OZONE gen for a few hours repeat this 3 times in a week

at the end there should be no major damage maybe a water spot on ceiling .........u can hit the carpet with a steam cleaner in spring during the clean up make it all look good ( might need a touch of paint)

just let u know the worst possible thing u can do in your house is to light of a smoke bomb .......the smell lasts for months
and yes a 75,000 sqft smoke bomb will blind everyone in a 2 story house in about 50 secs of burning .....and no the foggers for bugs does not do the same thing

20 gallons of water is nothing ............when u can float on your back in your own basement that is when to freak out and run around yelling oh shit

Thanks guys. Much appreciated

Oh ya, bleach spray like he said. Thatll kill mold. Plus rep @justugh

hey bud,
sorry to hear about your accident. if you haven't already, I'd just run dehumidifiers (multiple if you have..) as you leave your house for work or w.e, and by the time you come home at least the units have already done in some work..
if you have carpet or anything, vacuum would be your best bet. don't do any of that napa floor dry.. what if you can vacuum out those bits and pieces that find their way scattered in hard to reach places.. the damage is already done like you said.. the fans help, but dehumidifier is my only suggestion.

run your kitchen exhaust too.. get all the moist air outside directly

Rent a commercial dehumidifier and run it for 48 hours and remove any damaged drywall on the ceiling to let it dry. After you KNOW the subfloor is dry, replace the drywall and retexture the ceiling. I was a roofer for a couple years and I have seen some bad leaks. 9/10 times the subfloor was fine and didn't need to be replaced.