A plumbing pipe broke in a house while the owners were away, according to the owner of a mold removal and water restoration business in North Carolina. In the basement, there was 5 ft of water. Because it was summer, the water evaporated and rose to the upper floors in the day, and then rained back down into the basement during the night. “The humidity was so high that we had to pry the front door open.”
Once inside, there was something even more surprising. Everything was covered with mold – every wall, every carpet, every bed and every chair. There was even mold on the piano’s felt hammers. The house was literally infested from top to bottom.
The mold removal expert attributed the enormity of the damage to the fact that mold had existed for several weeks before being discovered. Nonetheless, he said, any type of flooding in a home – whether caused by a bashing from Mother Nature, a clogged sewer line or a broken pipe – can cause serious problems.
He warns people that there are some things you should never do when water is where it doesn’t belong, the most important of which is not to touch anything electrical if you’re standing on a wet floor. While this might seem obvious, you’d be surprised at the number of people who have a flooded basement and casually wade through the water in order to turn off appliances or switch lights on. Just a few inches of water can saturate electrical outlets near a floor. In fact, said the mold removal and water restoration expert, you should not be there in the first place – it is very dangerous.
