Coastal Flood Water Damage in Massachusetts

Coastal flooding in Massachusetts is different from a pipe leak because the water is dirty, salty and spread over the whole lowest level at once. Many shoreline homes from Revere to Hull and down to Buzzards Bay are older wood-frame houses with basements or low first floors, so a surge can reach the boiler, the water heater, the electrical panel and any finished rooms in a single tide. Salt keeps drawing moisture back into wood, drywall and insulation, which slows drying. Sand and silt settle into carpet, wall cavities and ductwork. The sooner the mud and soaked materials come out, the less of the structure has to be replaced.

In the first hour after the water recedes, a film of silt and salt covers every surface and the wall cavities are still full. By 24 hours drywall has wicked water well above the flood line and insulation is sagging inside the walls. At 48 hours mold can start on wet paper-faced drywall, wood trim and the bottoms of stud walls, and a sour smell sets in. After a week, subfloors and hardwood cup and buckle, nails and metal parts on appliances start to corrode from the salt, and what could have been a strip-out and drying job turns into a much larger rebuild.

Coastal flood water is category 3, so less can be dried in place than after a clean pipe leak, but the structure itself can usually be saved. Wood studs, joists and sill plates are washed, treated and dried with dehumidifiers and air movers, and the crew checks them with pin meters until the readings match dry wood elsewhere in the house. Concrete floors and foundation walls are scrubbed of silt and salt, rinsed and dried. Solid wood stair treads, plaster on masonry and metal cabinets can sometimes be cleaned and dried when the water was shallow and drained away quickly.

Almost every porous material that sat in seawater is removed. Carpet and pad go, because they hold silt, salt and bacteria that cleaning cannot reach. Drywall and insulation are cut out a foot or more above the highest wet reading, since paper-faced board and fiberglass wick water and stay contaminated. Particleboard cabinet bases, laminate floors, upholstered furniture, mattresses and stored cardboard boxes usually cannot be saved. Hardwood that has cupped badly after salt water exposure is often replaced rather than dried. Getting these out quickly is what lets the framing behind them dry.

Coastal flooding has reached nearly every stretch of the Massachusetts shoreline. In Greater Boston, the January 4, 2018 nor'easter pushed the Boston Harbor tide to 15.16 ft, the highest on record, and flooded parts of the downtown waterfront, while Revere was among the hardest-hit towns in the Blizzard of 1978. On the South Shore, the March 2, 2018 nor'easter brought heavy flooding to Scituate, Marshfield and Hull, with residents stranded in their homes, and Scituate and Hull were also among the hardest hit in 1978. Homes close to the water in these towns take the first hit when surge and waves arrive together.

On the SouthCoast and Cape Cod, the 1938 hurricane put parts of Falmouth and New Bedford under as much as 8 ft of water, and Hurricane Bob in 1991 drove a 10 to 15 ft surge into Buzzards Bay, highest at Onset, Bourne and Wareham. About a third of Cape housing units are seasonal, so a storm can flood a house nobody checks for days. Wherever you are on the coast, the call works the same: describe the water line and what got wet, and you are connected with a local crew.