Green Rascal Design

So for Hurricane Irene we got a nice present. A very small amount of water came in through the bilco door to the basement. It traveled around the wall of the basement past the area where we don't care about and got into the area where the previous owners of our house had installed some carpet. Once it reached the carpet, capillary action sucked all the moisture into the pad and carpet fibers, and everything sitting on the carpet began to grow mold. Since we were cheapskates and didn't invest in shelving to hold all our junk when we moved in, we had a LOT of junk sitting on that carpet. And here is the result:

The moral of the story:

Don't put flooring in your basement incorrectly! There is a right way to do things, and we were led to believe the people who lived here before us had followed the rules. We were sorely mistaken! Of course, your home may not be over 100 years old like ours is. But if the ground is saturated with water it will try very hard to come into your basement. It comes through concrete and stone. If you do not properly install waterproofing under your flooring it will turn out bad. I don't care if it is nylon fiber carpet or wood or tile. Please follow the directions when installing. Even if you think you know how to do it, just check the code books or get a "how to" book on the subject and read through the appropriate sections. Save yourself some time, money and back-aches!

If you're wondering, that is about 450 square feet of carpet, and another 450 square feet of pad, plus the roofing tar paper they used as ghetto underlayment. Don't get me wrong, because I really like the people we bought our house from. They did a lot of good things here. It's just that this carpet is not one of them.

Hopefully if you live on the East Coast your home was spared any kind of damage. Regardless, take a walk around your property and inspect the foundations and gutters for new cracks and loose nails, etc. If you were not spared from damage, Practice safe cleanup!