Drying out…

[jrittenhouse]

The carpet fan is whirring away in the background, and I think we dodged the bullet on this one, at least as far as  It Could Have Been Worse.  The major damage that isn’t replaceable is a small stack of papers I’d set aside for scanning, which were on the floor in my office.  I’m thinking that I’m going to try to dry the wet papers that are

Comments

[debgeisler]

It sucks that you had this much trouble, and I'm sorry to hear it (but glad that it wasn't worse!). Here's hoping your new pumping solution works brilliantly.

We've been lucky, so far -- our house is on a hill, and there's a lot of downhill for water to escape to. We were in Ohio when the melt happened here (home in Massachusetts) last week -- 22" of snow, plus heavy rains made for a lot of wet.

Freeze them -

[romsfuulynn]

If you have space in the freezer, stick the wet papers in there until you can get to them. (Just in a paper bag - eg paper grocery bag not plastic would be best.

Re: Freeze them -

[jrittenhouse]

In one big lump?

[stickmaker]

Yeah. Don't separate the pages while they're wet. They're too likely to tear.

The best way to recover soaked papers is freeze-drying. (Yes, just like food.) That removes the water in a very effective way, but is somewhat expensive. Just freezing can help, but is pretty slow.

I remember when the town library flooded here a while back microwave ovens were touted as the best way to save books. However, since then I've read about the freeze-drying method. If you are in a hurry, or need the space in your freezer, you could try the microwave. Just do it in increments, heating and checking the stack. Don't want to scorch the paper.

[axegrrl]

I'd be interested in hearing what kind of battery back-up system you get for the sump pump. (We've got a spot in the driveway that funnels water towards the house.)

[qnofhrt]

We had flooding at work too. On the third floor. Ain't low-bid contracting wonderful?

[jrittenhouse]

3d floor? WTF?