BASEMENT DRYING & KILLING SMELL (ATTN: KEVIN PEARSON)

[Charles]

Kevin,

Since you are the Pro drying guy on the board, how do you eliminate the smell after a flood.
I am in upstate NY and our towns were under water. Some people might want to have the mold & stink smell cleaned out. These are not insurance jobs cause no one has flood insurance. What is the going cu ft price around .15 ? Have you ever used the Odorox machine? Any info will help . Thanks to all who chime in.

[prodrying]

In flood (rising water) situations the only way to remove the odor will be to remove the wet damaged materials. Don't get me to lying about basements now because I am in Houston and we don't have basements. However the principles are the same. You will need to remove affected materials 2' or 4' high and pressure wash / disinfect the remaining structure. This can be real time consuming and expensive, so if you are working for people with no insurance then be careful because you may not get paid. They may have good intentions to pay you while it is wet but if you don't collect up front then you may get burned later. Remember this water is not clean water and so you will need to take precautions. Once you get the wet materials out and the structure pressure washed and cleaned then you can dry the studs. I wish there was an easier answer but there isn't. If you need more advice feel free to call me or email me. Hope this helps.

[Charles]

Most basements are being cleaned out by homeowners / renters. Tons of junk on the streets.
Mud has been 4 inches thick on the streets and in all the cars that have flooded. Worst spots have had 7ft of water. This area has never seen this type of disaster in 100 years. Last time it happened was in 1913 almost to the same day. Lots of people here think that just because the water gets drained from the basement they will be ok. Not really cause mold sets in within the first couple of days.

Kevin have you ever used the odorox machine or put a fog in a building to kill odor? I have heard good things about odorox & might have to check it out. Years ago when I was a SM Franchise, I have used a fog machine on on a chimney fire, oil leak in basement which the smell filled the whole house and a minor 9 inch water damage due to water pipes breaking in cold weather. Thanks for your info.

[prodrying]

No I haven't used an odorox machine although I have heard good things about it. When we have done the kind of work you are talking about we gut, pressure wash, disinfect, and dry. Once you do that the odor will be gone.

[David-Hebert]

We do the same as as Kevin, it is the fastest and least expensive way to do it also.