Broken Pipe Creates Water Damage – Bath, PA

Water Damage – March 2016

By: Jake Lasken

What Happened:

In a cold march day, one of the copper pipes in this Bath, Pa home broke and caused massive damage to the basement. The water burst out of the pipe and spread to the rest of the basement. Homeowners came home to find that the basement was now a small lake. After no luck contacting Ghost Busters, they contacted Cityline construction to help out.

Cityline was hired for emergency and restoration services. We assessed the damage to the home and the extent to which the pooling water extended. To do this we took moisture readings on each of the walls in the basement and first floor to determine where the water damage was and the extent of it. Based on the moisture readings, our experts laid out the focus areas to begin working on and our crews got to work that same day, removing the excess water from the basement with our drying equipment. It was important to prevent further damage to the property and to prevent further mold growth.

Our crews worked on decontaminating and removing the personal property that was in the basement during the flooding. We restored each item with meticulous detail to remove any water damage. With each item, we stored them in a weatherproof container and for items we could not salvage we worked with the homeowner to create a contents list so they would be properly compensated by their insurance for their lost.

Stripping and Restoring

We also started to remove the heavily damaged walls that required replacement. Because of the duration of the water sitting, quite a bit of wall required demolition. Along with the drywall we also pulled up and removed the carpeting as it too was heavily damaged and was showing sign of mold growth.

With the basement cleared out we went to work installing the new walls and fixing the damage to the electrical and insulation. While the walls were open the home owner also had us change out the copper piping for durable plastics to help deter future floorings. Along with the new walls, pipes and electrical fixtures, we put in new carpeting that matched the old.

The restoration of the basement was handled by our experienced crew, who worked to remove the mold and toxins that had grown. Taking proper precautions they worked their way around the basement removing the mold. While our crews worked, they avoided crossing any streams.

With the basement reconstructed and properly restored we moved everything back in, exactly where it was found. With everything back in place, we did a final cleaning and removed all of our equipment. The home owners are very happy with their now clean basement.