Water in Basement

[CYEATHAWK]

ServPro came and said just to put up their fans and dehumidifiers was between 2500-3000. He then used a piece of equipment to check all the walls for moisture and marked the ones that the sensor indicated water infiltrated and marked how high up he would need to remove. I asked what that would cost and he said with all the cutting of drywall and insulation that needed to be removed it would easily be 3-5x the original quote. He also said they don't remove the carpet and debris for that prica and that is on the home owner. So I was looking at $12-16k in demo and still having to haul everything out of the basement before even getting into the replacement of everything. Never worked with them before and when I have / had such a $&-@ing mess to deal with I just trusted I was doing the right things.

Forgive me for asking........but how is the demo $12-16k? Did ServPro give you that?

You aren't tearing down framing are you? That's just the ruined carpet, trim and 2' up of drywall....correct?

A 40 sq roll-off is around $750 loaded. You shouldn't need more than two.

You could probably get a good crew to tear it out for $2k. Probably get it done in a day or two.

And that isn't being cheap.

You could get some day labor for even less. I wouldn't, but you could just for the tear out.

 

[GoldCy]

ServPro came and said just to put up their fans and dehumidifiers was between 2500-3000. He then used a piece of equipment to check all the walls for moisture and marked the ones that the sensor indicated water infiltrated and marked how high up he would need to remove. I asked what that would cost and he said with all the cutting of drywall and insulation that needed to be removed it would easily be 3-5x the original quote. He also said they don't remove the carpet and debris for that prica and that is on the home owner. So I was looking at $12-16k in demo and still having to haul everything out of the basement before even getting into the replacement of everything. Never worked with them before and when I have / had such a $&-@ing mess to deal with I just trusted I was doing the right things.

Where are you located? ServePro is a protected franchise. Sounds like you got a really bad one.

 

[Jnecker4cy]

Call Pro Restore DKI out of Grimes. Serve Pro has a pretty bad reputation within the insurance world her in Des Moines. They are expensive and quite often do more than needed.

 

[SCarolinaCy]

Wasn't said, but more than likely the water didn't go up 2' rather you take it off that high as a precaution for mold.

If the water was actually 2' up that is a complete gut job.

Seems difficult to get a seamless joint in drywall between old and new, around entire perimeter.

 

[Dr.bannedman]

Recently had a drain back up and flood the basement. The basement is pretty large at about 2,000 sq feet. I had ServePro and a contractor come in and both said carpet needs to go along with all the trim and 2 feet up of dry wall and insulation. I got a quote that included demo (removing carpet, padding, trim, drywall and insulation), insulating, drywall, painting and replacing the floor and some doors. Estimate came in around $38-40K which was under $15/sq foot and I thought that was pretty reasonable. Insurance adjuster is acting like it is absurd and wants to come and give there own estimate. I told them that was fine, but that I needed to get going as it has been 8 days since filing the claim and they haven't even made an attempt to call to schedule anything. I have taken lots of pictures and sent them to them and kept all the carpet and demo material. I am afraid if I wait till they show up to start the repairs that I won't be able to find anyone to do the work in a reasonable timeframe. I guess the question is does this estimate seem excessive and is this pretty typical of insurance claims in dealing with basements and water damage?
Thanks

I worked for servpro in high school mid 2000s... removing black water materials is why the estimate is so high. its nasty stuff. sure you could try to do it yourself but man its a lot of work.... servpro will bring in multiple commercial dehydrators and fans. might take a week or two to completely dry but you'll they wont leave until everything is dry.

this is my experience working for a servpro in western iowa.

 

[cycloner29]

My question is how did you get 2’ of water in your basement for a backed up drain and not notice it? I’ve had our sump pump stop before and we just got our carpet wet. 2’ of junk water in a 2,000 sq basement is a quite a cesspool.

40k does seem just a bit high though.

 

[ianoconnor]

Call Pro Restore DKI out of Grimes. Serve Pro has a pretty bad reputation within the insurance world her in Des Moines. They are expensive and quite often do more than needed.

Agreed. I was happy with DKI when we had a pipe burst at our previous house.

 

[twojman]

$40k seems like finishing an entire basement.

 

[Mads4st8]

My question is how did you get 2’ of water in your basement for a backed up drain and not notice it? I’ve had our sump pump stop before and we just got our carpet wet. 2’ of junk water in a 2,000 sq basement is a quite a cesspool.

40k does seem just a bit high though.

There was never 2’ of water. Cutting 2’ is standard for black water infiltration. Unless you routinely deal with mold, most people will never understand this and act like it’s a $1000 trip to Menards.

 

[Stormin]

You can go buy a couple dehumidifiers and fans for that much. Spend another 10 bucks and plump a drain house into them so they drain the water into a drain and run non stop.

ServiceMaster was expensive for my sewer back up in basement. But the humidifiers they brought were supersized along with their fans. Buying a couple humidifiers would not have had the capacity to do the job. It is a devastating situation. City was responsible. Worst experience of my life dealing with their insurance carrier. Adjuster from Hell. 9 months. Asked for a new adjuster. Got an apology from the adjuster’s boss after she reviewed my case. New Adjuster took one hour. Old adjuster isolated me and threatened me to contact no one but her. Intimidating. And you are powerless because there is no Insurance Commisioner or Attorney General oversight. Only the Iowa Legislature. Only by demanding a new adjuster was my case then reviewed by superiors. Otherwise no one had a clue.

 

[wxman1]

My question is how did you get 2’ of water in your basement for a backed up drain and not notice it? I’ve had our sump pump stop before and we just got our carpet wet. 2’ of junk water in a 2,000 sq basement is a quite a cesspool.

40k does seem just a bit high though.

Right situation with the right amount of rain and it is easy. There is a former poster on here from Solon that I know. A few years ago they had a super heavy rain that exposed a grading issue with the farmland that they backed up to, flooded the entire basement with at least 3-4 feet of water from what I remember.

 

[CYEATHAWK]

Seems difficult to get a seamless joint in drywall between old and new, around entire perimeter.

Not really. It depends on the level of finish to the existing wall. If there is an orange peel then you just feather out the joint 10-12" on both sides and then texture to match. And that doesn't take long with a few guys and a 45 minute set durabond.

It's like anything else and that is you do it enough it's not hard.

However for the type of money they are talking I wouldn't waste their time with drywall. I would go up 32" (wainscot) with water proof board over wool insulation and clad that with a nice stone like slate or travertine along with stone baseboard.

And that is after I subfloor with Dri-Core and top that with a nice LVP. No seam, no joint, no carpet........no problem.

This isn't rocket science or splitting of the atom. Why so many people doing this type of work want to make it seem like an art is beyond me.

 

[LeadersWifeLife]

We had this EXACT same thing happen to us last month. Service Master took out carpet, pad, and bottom 2 feet of drywall, and 4 doors with frames along with a bed in a bedroom. We are about done with the remodel (only have 1 door and baseboards left) and we are at about $11,000