We will address how they are rehabbed and what has to be done to them.
If it is your own house, there are different procedures.
Hands of personally flooded houses.
Floods and fires can make money, but it can’t begin to pay for the aggravation.
Insurance checks will not bring back the pictures and keepsakes that you lose.


Burn Houses and flood houses have a lot in common.
They are usually abnormally damaged.
They require special skills and crafts to return them to habitability.
Clean out
Build back into existing
Match surrounding
They are labor intensive.
They are cash intensive.
They stink when you get ‘em, they can still stink when you sell ‘em.
Neither is recommended by me for investors.

If you must, then start with these initial considerations.
Lab testing for Stachybotrys Chartarum
I just hate to scare someone away from his or her dream project,
but you have to be very careful with these properties.
You can get burned on a flood house just as easily as a burn out.

Now for the work – depending on how long the water was there and how deep it got.

1. Trash out
Everything that got wet has to go; furniture, clothes, drapes personal belongings.
Every bit of fabric and wood.
Appliances, books, record collections all of it.

2. Tear Out
Sheetrock – depending on the depth of the water.
Insulation.
Carpet and padding – some vinyl and squares will float.
Wood floors – have to be relieved, can push the walls off of the slab and hump.
Cabinets and vanities– got to go – sleepers and sheetrock access.
Doors – they de-laminate.
Wood floors – crucial to open them immediately, and then remove them.

3. Clean out
Soap and water, shovels and brooms.
About biocides.

4. Drying out
Slab is wet.
Framing members are wet.
Drying takes time, even with bog fans and low relative humidity.

5. Electrical
If over receptacles – change them all out – corrosion.
If over the service panel – call a licensed electrician for evaluation.
If over the light fixtures – go to my opening remarks – shouldn’t be there anyway.
Pier and beam electrical under the house – electrician must crawl and check.
Corroded connectors, conductors become unreliable over time and can cause fire.

6. Foundations
Slabs will hop around.
Pier and beam – check for ponding and livestock.
Check both for adequate drainage.

7. HVAC
Condenser must be checked by licensed HVAC man.
Contactors, wiring, capacitors, fan motors, livestock.
If rare case of electric furnace outside, probably will have to be replaced.
Ductwork – slime in the ice machine.

8. Walls
Sheetrock comes out in 2’ increments.
All walls come out.
About paneling – open one side if no sheetrock.
Insulation wicks water up inside the wall – go till you hit dry spot.
Biocide 10 – 25% Clorox and water, commercial product form janitorial supply.
Do a good job – floods distribute sewage too.
Constant circulation – weeks, not days – fans moving air in and out.
Brickwork – dries out at 1” per month.
Don’t use the fireplace for 2 –3 months, will crack bricks and mortar.

9. Trim and baseboards
It all has to come off – some can be salvaged, keep it in the room if you can.
Label it if you will re-use it.
Doors de-laminate and must be repaired or discarded.
Doors hold water and may not explode until they start to dry out.



10. Doors
Solid doors will be O.K., they will dry out.
Metal doors will probably rust, depending on how long they were submerged.
Solid core laminate doors will begin to delaminate.
Hollow core doors will begin to disintegrate; they are also places for mold.
Hollow core doors can hold water and not explode until they start to dry out.
Damaged doors must be repaired or discarded.


11. Appliances
Gas fired anything has to be checked – corrosion is the enemy.
Check gas ignition and combustion devices.
Check connections and relays on dryers and washing machines, dishwashers etc.
When you’re done checking all that, throw them out.

12. Wood Floors
How they are built.
Water between the screeds is the problem for mold and odors later on.
Expansion due to swelling will blow the walls off the slab.
Moisture is always an invitation to termites.

13. Windows
Double glazed windows may lose their seal and develop clouds.
Sash may stick if wood windows.
Locks and slides on aluminum windows may tarnish, corrode- steel wool, WD-40.

14. Well and septic.
Test well water – check with county sanitarian.
Septic – needs to be pumped and checked for percolation.


Kevin Smith
Forward Assist Inspections
(713)858-1330
Texas Real Estate License #3234