A Broken Sump Pump Leads To Flooding And Mold In A New Albany Home

An inoperable sump pump can be the difference between a costly flooding incident and a dry basement. Homeowners need to check on their sump pump regularly and, if possible, put an alarm in the sump to alert them when the water level in the sump pit is too high, indicating a failure. We recently received a call from a homeowner in New Albany, Ohio that discovered their sump pump was not working. In the meantime, their home was subjected to water damage. They realized they needed some real expertise and professional services to remediate the flood, so they brought us in.

Evaluation, Demolition, and Restoration

Our team promptly arrived at the home to inspect the damage. The home’s carpet was not wet, so they didn’t initially realize their sump pump wasn’t working. They had previously placed a spill guard pad, which prevented a lot of the moisture from reaching the carpet. However, a musty odor eventually seeped out and tipped them off that something was wrong. They later discovered the sump pump malfunctioned and fixed it, but since several days went by before they noticed it, mold growth had occurred along the bottom of the drywall throughout the basement.

The homeowner contacted us as a trusted referral from their USAA insurance agent. They saw that PuroClean had excellent water damage and mold remediation ratings and wanted to have us help. We thoroughly inspected the property and sent them an estimate. Once their insurance company approved it, we started work the next day. Although the basement had a partial finish, some carpet areas were wet enough to delaminate (a technical term, meaning divide into layers).

One issue with spill guard pads is that homeowners often may not realize their sump pump isn’t working properly for some time because they act as a vapor barrier. However, the wet pad touched the drywall in this situation, causing the drywall to get wet and grow mold over a few days. This meant all of the carpet, padding, and lower two feet of drywall in the basement needed to be replaced.

We expected the demolition needed would take 2 days because it was a large basement, and there was a good bit of mold remediation, but we were able to get it all done in one day. The homeowners were pleased we could take care of their issue in a short amount of time. With the demolition out of the way, we set up air dryers in the affected areas to remove any lingering moisture. Finally, we mitigated the mold growth and restored the drywall that we removed.

Contact PuroClean Water, Fire, and Mold Experts For Professional Disaster Mitigation Services

We recommend performing routine sump pump maintenance, as simply giving it attention can go a long way in guarding against basement flooding. If your property has suffered from flood damage because of a failed or broken sump pump, call us at (614) 309-5739 for restoration services in the Columbus area.