So we came home less than two months ago to a flooded and moldy basement. So far we have had Serv Pro come in and clean up the water, dry the basement out and handle to disposal of all our moldy and wet items. Basically everything that was down there. This is what the basement looks like today. 

You are first met with a zippered doorway. Very sci fi movie feeling. It does keep the kids and dog out and the bad mold spores away from the upstairs.

You have to unzip it and carefully step through…

Everything has been removed. Some items that we are hoping to save are being stored in our garage for now. My beautiful built-in is gone but it will be back…

The sheetrock was removed halfway up the wall. I was told yesterday by my contractor that he would have to remove the whole wall to make the new sheetrock seamless. Luckily I did board and batten because we then realized we could remove it up till the horizontal molding line and then cover the seam with the molding again. 

The floor was the first thing that was removed when clean up began. Since all the tiles which were original to the house got wet they popped up. They also needed to be tested for asbestos since they were now disturbed.  The tiles are asbestos as is the mastic which held them down. I have people coming next week for asbestos removal. This will be a two day process for my 400 square foot area. They will be removing the tile and then sealing the floor by painting it over. 

Everything has been disposed of since it was sitting in water and mold for almost two weeks (the amount of time we were away on vacation). The toy closet is empty, the pantry closet is empty, and my work closet is as well. Nothing like a flood to make you clean your closets out!

When we finished our basement two years ago we put in a bulkhead door. I’m so glad I did that now since everything was carried out that way and not through my house. 

It is very strange seeing everything in this state. It is not exactly the project I was planning on working on this fall. Oh well. 

I have mulled over what I will do down there but I’m of the firm belief “if it ain’t broke don’t fix it.” I loved my basement. It worked out perfectly for us. The storage, the laundry room, the extra space for my kids to play, hang out and have slumber parties. All of that made it a great space for my family. I will not be changing a thing other than new furniture and accessories. The built in will be recreated and the walls put back up. The closets will get new shelves and the floor will be put down again. I have no idea what the time frame will be on this entire project. My hope was that I’d have a basement again by the end of the year. Once the asbestos tiles are removed it is full steam ahead on Project “Get the Basement Back.”