Look what we had the pleasure of waking up to in the basement of our rental… It rained most of the night and thank goodness our neighbors warned us about the leaky basement as we were moving it. Apparently our basement has some major leaking issues and today we get to witness them first hand.
Here is a video I tried to make of the madness. You can hear the water squishing in the carpet when someone walks over 9 or 10 foot wide drenched area. The cats and dog are quite concerned about the wetness as are we.
The water is coming from under the storage rack we have in the corner, it is flowing across the floor and right under the wooden bar/ wall and is under the tile behind the bar. No water is going down the drain yet…
The landlords never mentioned it to us but thankfully the next door neighbor did so we have nothing that can really be damaged down there. All the stuff in the flood path is in plastic bins so I am thankful about that but I just can’t believe this is an on-going issue with the house that is yet to be fixed.
Will there be standing water in the basement by tomorrow morning? Should we turn fans on down there to dry it all up or what?
We are just glad none of our stuff is destroyed. We are worried about toxic mold growing in the walls as a result of this insane flooding issue.
So how is the weather in your neck of the woods? Got rain or floods?
Your neighbors earned some serious cookie points for the “heads-up”.
Now a word of advice: remove anything organic from that basement, including carpet and those wall panels or wooden structures I see in the pictures.
If those things are not dry in 48 hours mold will start to grow. Not all species of mold are toxic, however you do not want any species of mold growing in your basement. They all smell very bad and release spores in the air, which can trigger allergy symptoms in sensitive people and animals.
Since the basement is prone to flood, your best bet is to get rid of all this stuff for good and keep from storing anything organic there. at least until you get the landlord to fix the problem.
It is really easy to fix,too. An internal perimeter drainage system and a good sump pump system and you will have a usable basement.
After all part of the rent you pay is for this basement too right? Shouldn’t you be able to use it?
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That sucks!! Nice of your landlords to tell you about the flooding huh!! At lest your neighbors gave you heads up. I would keep an eye out for mold. Maybe ripping the carpet out might help? Maybe putting a fan or heater on your bar area and face it down so it blows on the carpet. Maybe get a steam cleaner or rent one so you can suck the water out ?
The weather here in Virginia is getting cold. It snowed the other day. It was raining alot but we live in an apt on the 2nd floor so we don’t really have to worry about flooding, unless we have a big hurricane.
It was cold this weekend, but has warmed up again. A light rain this morning.
The wood may not feel wet to you, but if the water is under the tiles, it’s under the wood too. The backs and ends of those pieces are not finished so they will “wick” the water up maybe an inch and that wet wood will mold just like the carpet.
At least you’ve well-documented this so that you can get out of your lease if you need to.
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Sorry about your unusable space 🙁 That really sucks! Snow expected here from maybe tonight til Friday. VERY cold in the mornings but the days are pleasant.
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I can’t believe the landlord didn’t tell you about the flooding. What a jerk you could’ve had a lot of damage if it weren’t for your great neighbors.
It’s just cold here. No rain. No snow. Just cold. I hope I didn’t just jinx myself.
Dingo » What is worse is we are probably breathing in mold spores as a result of this ongoing leak in the basement that we are just learning the severity of… We are so not staying here once the baby is born!
Also, you can get mold test kits to set around and capture mold spores in the air to get an idea of how extensive mold may be. You do NOT want to bring a baby home to mold. And you breathing it while pregnant isn’t good either.
I’d get fans on it asap. Time for the carpet to go.
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Hyphen Mama » Where can I get the test kits? I would love to rip the carpets and wood paneling out of there… Problem is that this is a rental so we can’t.
Talina, you can’t do it, but you can certainly ask your landlord to do it. It is his responsibility to maintain a property that is habitable.
Donna B.s last blog post..A Challenge!
Oh god thats awful! Your landlord should have definatly told you about the flooding – thank god for the neighbour! Is it going to drain ok?
Over here in the UK its just very very cold, even though the sun is somehow out today :
Just snow here. Also, we live at the top of the street, so thankfully, even during flood season, we don’t flood.
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Oh no! What a mess. I’m so sorry. Definitely try to stay out of there in case any bacteria or mold is floating about.
That is awful no one warned you about this. Any chance you have a wet/dry vac? We had to use that in Florida when our carpets dampened from rain.
It’s been raining cats and dogs here too 🙁
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Glad you have documentation, darlin. Now sic the landlord with it.
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Wow. That is looking serious. That’s a lot of water and wet carpets = not good as far as mold goes.