Basement Flooding Cleanup in Atkinson, NH
The rain came in on top of two feet of snow, and by Sunday night there was an inch of water across the family room downstairs. It came in at the joint where the floor meets the wall, not from any pipe, and the sump pit is full and quiet. We connect you by phone with an independent local provider who does basement flooding cleanup in Atkinson and across Rockingham County.
What the crew does first
The crew figures out where the water came from, because that decides how it is handled. Groundwater through the slab or the fieldstone is treated as clean but persistent. Water from a failed pump is the same. Water that backed up from a floor drain or a septic line is a different job with protective gear and contained disposal.
Then they pump the standing water and start on the finished layers. A finished basement in an Atkinson colonial is carpet over pad over slab, drywall over studs over a gap over the foundation, and a drop ceiling above it. Water gets into every layer. The crew meters the bottom of the walls, pulls the carpet back, and checks the studs before deciding what stays.
What to do in the next hour
Stay out of the water if the panel, the furnace, or an outlet strip is wet. If the power is safe, check whether the sump pump is running. If it is not, and the pit is full, a plug or a float may have stuck. Do not go into deep water to find out.
Get boxes, rugs, and anything on the floor up onto the stairs or out of the basement. Photograph the water line on the walls and the pit. Then make the call. Clearing the water is the beginning. Drying what it touched is the job.
What is usually saved and what is not
The slab, the block or fieldstone, and the framing usually dry in place. Carpet over a slab can sometimes be saved, and the pad almost never can. Drywall on the lower two feet of the finished walls usually comes out if it sat in water, and the fiberglass behind it comes with it. Paneling on furring strips is a maybe the meter answers.
Stored belongings are handled by material. Cardboard, particleboard furniture, and anything upholstered that sat in groundwater usually go. Plastic bins, metal shelving, and sealed items wipe down. Ask the crew before anything sentimental goes to the curb. Once the extraction is done, structural drying finishes the job, and it takes days, not hours.
Rockingham County notes
Atkinson, Danville, and Hampstead sit on shallow, rocky ground where the ledge keeps groundwater close to the surface. When the frost goes out in March and the spring rains come, the water table rises against the foundation and comes through the slab joint. The Mother's Day storm of May 13 through 16, 2006 dropped more than eight inches of rain on southeastern New Hampshire in three days, and the Patriots' Day nor'easter of April 15 through 17, 2007 did it again eleven months later. Basements that had been dry for thirty years filled in both.
Most homes here are on wells and septic. If the water smells or came up through a floor drain, the septic system may be the source, and the crew needs to know. The state's rules on septic systems and private wells live at the New Hampshire Department of Environmental Services, which also tracks the groundwater that ends up on your floor.
Many policies exclude groundwater seepage, and sump pump failure usually needs its own endorsement. Nobody on this site can tell you what your policy covers. Ask the crew to note the entry point and the water line in writing on the first visit. If the pump was the failure, see sump pump failure cleanup.
Calling about basement flooding cleanup
Say how deep the water is, whether it is still rising, and whether it came through the floor, a wall, a drain, or a pipe. Say whether the basement is finished, whether there is a sump pit, and whether the pump ran. Say if the power to the basement is off. Call (603) 665-0909 and tell us what you see.
