Refinishing a Flood Damaged Basement Milwaukee WI

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Another homeowner has emailed me with questions about insulating a finished basement. This situation is a bit different and I wanted to share it with you. The homeowner recently had their basement flooded with over 4 feet of standing water. The house is located in a flood plain but has never been flooded before. The flood was part of a very unusual flooding event that FEMA declared a disaster. The damage was extensive including cracking and buckling of the existing concrete block foundation walls. The foundation walls have since been repaired and steel reinforcing columns have been installed to shore up the house. The homeowner wanted to know my thoughts on how he should insulate the basement before they create their new "Man Cave". Below are some of my thoughts about this particular situation.Insulating A Flood Damaged BasementThe following items were my thoughts / suggestions to this homeowner regarding his situation.

• I always advise customers that it's not a great idea to put lots of money into a basement in a flood plain. Even though this flood hasn't happened before there's certainly no guarantee that it won't happen again next year. Having said that be sure to consider the issue and be prepared for that possibility.

At the very least I'd recommend they have a sump pump system installed in the event of future flooding again to help remove the water and hopefully keep the levels from rising above the finished floor level. However, this approach may not work if in fact the yard is flooded and there's no place to pump the water to.

Considering the basement has previously flooded and there is a possibility of it in the future I'd recommend they only insulate the basement with some type of foam insulation. This will help prevent any mold issues in the future should the basement become flooded again. I'd also recommend that they frame the walls with pressure treated lumber again to prevent future damage due to water damage.

The difficult decision will be what material to use on the walls. I would certainly stay away from drywall in this basement. It will only take one flooding event to render it useless and a potential mold hazard. I'd recommend they look into some type of non-wood, non-paper paneling product (not really sure what to recommend). At the very least using some type of water/rot resistant wood might be the best approach if you can't find a suitable product.

Finishing Basements In Flood PlainsDeciding to insulate and finish a basement in a flood plain is a risky investment. Even though you may have a dry basement with a history of never flooding it's quite possible that a flood will over take your house and basement. Flood plains are identified by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers. These zones have been identified based on historical and analytical data and represent a very likely set of locations for flooding.So I caution folks to be very wary of spending money and investing in finishing a basement when you live in a flood plain. You are running the risk of severe damage and most likely no insurance coverage on your investment. If you must finish your basement then you should design it in such a way as to minimize the effects of flood waters.

Tags: Home Improvement, Home Improvement Blog, Home Improvement Advice, Insulating Basements

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