River Flood Cleanup in Massachusetts

River floods in Massachusetts tend to fill basements and low first floors with muddy water that sits until the river falls. The state has some of the oldest housing in the nation, with a median year built of 1964 versus 1980 for the country, so many homes near rivers have fieldstone or block foundations, older wiring and the boiler or furnace in the basement. Silt settles into everything and dries into a hard crust, and wet stone and block walls can hold water for weeks. Mold can start on drywall, wood and stored belongings within 24 to 48 hours, so the job is a race to get mud and soaked materials out.

In the first hour after the water drops, mud coats the floor and lower walls and the basement is still cold and dripping. By 24 hours wet drywall and paneling have wicked water well above the high-water line, and the smell of river mud fills the house. At 48 hours mold growth can begin on wood and paper surfaces. After a week, stored belongings are a total loss, framing is stained, and wet foundations and slabs keep feeding humidity into the floors above, slowing every repair that follows.

Because river water is category 3, drying in place is limited to the structure and to hard, non-porous materials. Wood studs, joists and sill plates are cleaned, disinfected and dried, then checked with pin meters. Concrete floors, poured walls and fieldstone or block foundations are scrubbed and dried with dehumidifiers, which can take longer than the rooms above because masonry holds water. Metal shelving, ceramic tile, solid wood doors and glass can usually be cleaned and kept. Plaster on masonry may be saved if it stayed firmly attached and the water did not sit long.

Most porous materials that river water touched come out. Carpet, pad, drywall, paneling, ceiling tiles in a flooded basement and fiberglass insulation hold silt and bacteria and cannot be cleaned through. Drywall is cut out at least a foot or two above the highest wet reading because it wicks upward. Particleboard cabinets, upholstered furniture, mattresses, books and cardboard boxes are usually discarded. A furnace, boiler or water heater that sat in floodwater stays off until a qualified technician has inspected it, and some units need replacing.

River flooding has hit nearly every valley in Massachusetts. In Western Massachusetts, the Connecticut River set record crests at Montague, Northampton, Holyoke and Springfield in March 1936, and Tropical Storm Irene in 2011 brought major Deerfield River flooding from Greenfield through Colrain, Buckland and Charlemont, with about 300 people evacuated in Shelburne Falls. In the North Shore and Merrimack Valley, the Mother's Day flood of May 2006 dropped about 12 in of rain on Andover in three days, and Lowell lowered its historic Francis Gate flood gate for only the third time.

In MetroWest, March 2010 brought record crests on the Sudbury River at Saxonville in Framingham and on the Charles River at Medway, and on the South Shore the Taunton River at Bridgewater set a record crest the same month. Springfield, the Pioneer Valley and the hilltowns, the Merrimack Valley, MetroWest and the Taunton basin are all served. Describe the water depth and what is wet, and we connect you with a local crew.