I just had a similar situation in my personal residence last week - a second floor discharge of 30 gallons or so from a washing machine. While a lot of the water ended up in the basement, a surprising amount ended up trapped in the insulation of the ceiling of the first floor, as well as the insulation of the ceiling of the basement. I have drywall over the walls and 1st fl ceiling. I had to tear down the drywall and remove the insulation from the 1st floor ceiling - about 8 gallons of water was trapped there and came gushing down. I have an adjoining ceiling in a hall that measures over 35% moisture content a week later in the drywall. I of course can't check the insulation unless I open the ceiling in the hall, which I have resisted doing. I am guessing that the insulation is holding several gallons of water. Adjoining walls measure over 35% MC in the drywall, and I don't know if they have insulation or not. It can take A LOT longer than expected for this to dry (perhaps months), and the risk is mold/mildew growth. I am hoping (fingers crossed) that it will evaporate with air circulation, but at this moment, it does not look good, and I may have to remove the drywall. If you do not have insulation, your issues will be less, and natural drying may be adequate. However, if you have insulation, you may have to remove the drywall/plaster. Uggh!!!
A lot of this has to do with where you are located. I'm in NE, and here the temps are low, but the RH is also low. Raising the T and using fans to blow the air around helps. If you are in Arizona, things may dry out much faster with just fans to help. If you are in the south, I'm not sure what will happen, as higher T will speed evaporation, but also will facilitate mold growth.
If the moisture leaves on its own (with your help), your long-term problems will be limited to distortion of wood and similar materials that were wet, staining, and damage to finishes/paints. If the moisture hangs around too long inside cavities, mold/mildew will have health consequences and may require destruction of some building components to facilitate drying. You should probably get a cheap moisture meter to be able to measure moisture content of different materials. I have one from Harbor Freight Tools that cost about $20 and is not adequate for precise measurements, but is great for this type of gross assessment. Its prongs will leave two small holes that are probably acceptable for architecture, but not for collection objects. Good luck!
Marc
President, American Conservation Consortium, Ltd.
(Yes, I'm a conservator!)
HHSDIRECTOR <[log in to unmask]> wrote:
> Hello list serve,
>
>
>
> Here's a crisis I've never dealt with before: We've had a pipe burst on the
> second floor of our historic house that yielded 2' of water in the basement.
> Aside from anticipating loosening plaster throughout the flooded areas, and
> the damage to artifacts, I'd be grateful to hear from folks who might have
> been through this kind of disaster before. I'd like to be prepared for any
> after the fact surprises (knowing of course, that each type of episode like
> this is different), that will pop up after I've made my insurance claim.
>
>
>
> Thanks for advice and suggestions.
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