How to Remove Mold From a Flooded Basement

by DoItYourself Staff

When you face a flooded basement, your first step must be to get the water removed within 24 to 48 hours to prevent a mold breakout. You can easily take care of this problem on your own without paying for an expert to come out, assess the mess and remove the mold. This project is time-consuming, but well worth it to do the work yourself.

Removing Water and Moisture

One of the first steps is to get the standing water removed as quickly as you can. You can do this by either using a sump pump, which you put in your basement to pump the water out, or to vacuum it with a shop vac. Once all the standing water is gone, remove any belongings, carpet, and wet drywall and insulation.

Finding the Leak

Your next step is to block off all vents and HVAC returns that are in the basement so that if any mold begins to form, it can not get upstairs. Then, search to find the source of the leak. A lot of times, the reason a basement will leak is because the gutters or downspouts are full. If this is the case, simply cleaning them out may stop the water from going into the basement.

Another easy fix is to look around and see where water is puddling around your house. It may just take a little landscaping to fill in areas where the water is pooling.

The most expensive way is to waterproof your walls. If you decide to do this, it will take some professional help because the walls must be dug out so they can be fixed. Keep in mind that waterproofing your walls is a major expense, so consider it a last resort. Cleaning the gutters, checking the landscape and adding a sump pump can keep your basement dry without breaking the bank.

Testing for Mold

Once you have removed all water and sealed the basement, the last step is to make sure there is no mold in your basement. Again, you can call a professional to come out and test for mold, but there are cheaper ways you can do this yourself. There are 4 different testing methods that you can use, depending on your preference.

Tape Kit: This test lets you stick tape strips to different surfaces and then send into a certified laboratory to have it checked for mold. You can usually receive the test stripes for free, and lab testing will run you around $30.
Swab Kit: This test lets you swab the surfaces and then insert it into a chemical that will tell you whether or not mold is present. If the test does show mold, you can send into a certified laboratory to find what type of mold you have and whether it is toxic.
Viable Test Kit: This lets you test a substance, air or HVAC system to make sure there is no mold. To do this test, you put your substance in the kit and close to see if it grows in a week. If substance does not grow, then it is not mold. If it does, then can send it in to find out whether the type of mold you have is toxic.
Pump Air Kit: The most effective, but expensive way to do a mold test from home is the pump with cassettes. You put the pump with a cassette in it for about 5 minutes, and the pump will put the air contents on your cassette. You then send the cassettes in and have them tested at the lab to check the air in your home.

Cleaning Up the Mold

If you find that you have mold in your basement, there are some steps to follow to make it safe for you and your family. First, you will need to sand down any mold on wood surfaces and clean out all HVAC vents. Next, begin spraying the entire basement with a chemical that kills mold. Some of the things you can use to clean the surface are ammonia and water or bleach and water, but do not ever mix bleach and ammonia together. There are lots of other chemicals out there that you can use, but some can get very costly.

For best results, do any treatment a few times to make sure you have killed all the mold. Remember that if the mold is on wood, drywall or other porous materials, bleach will not kill it. Anything you can remove is the safest way to get rid of it.

By following these steps, you can fix your flooded basement problems and keep the mold out of your home that can potentially make you and your family very ill.