Fire and Flood Dryout

Material Dry-Out


Challenge
A new house under construction was flooded by vandals that turned on the kitchen water taps while work crews were away for the long weekend. The water flooded the finished hardwood floors, carpeting and sub-floor on the main level as well as the unfinished basement.

Objectives
To dry-out the entire house in a controlled manner without exporting any contaminants to the unharmed top level or causing damage to hardwood cabinetry, staircase balustrades and hardwood floors by “over-drying”.

Solution
The restoration contractor worked with the ICS Group Rapid-Dry service team to design, configure and deliver the optimum climate control conditions to remove moisture from the house. Portable indirect hydronic climate control equipment was utilized to provide the required heat, quantity of air changes and achieve the target moisture content in the building materials.

Result
  • The 3,000 sq. foot house was carefully dried out over a 3 day period.
  • The basement, sub-floor and finished wood work were dried until the desired moisture levels within the materials were achieved, resulting in no excessive dry-out damage.
  • The undamaged top floor remained free of contaminants throughout the entire process.
  • The contractor was able to complete the home with minimum replacement of the saturated materials.

Additional Resources