Standing water on floors, in four west Georgia towns
Standing Water Removal in Bremen, GA
Water on a floor soon works into the carpet pad, the baseboards and the subfloor underneath. This page covers pulling it out of Bremen, Waco, Tallapoosa and Temple homes, and what comes next. Questions? Call (678) 839-7986 and say how many rooms are wet.
What it looks like
- A thin sheet of water, or a shine, across the floor after a spill or a rainstorm
- Carpet that squelches or feels cold and heavy through your socks
- Baseboards that turn dark, bulge or separate from the wall
- Hardwood boards that cup at the edges or open gaps between planks
- A damp, closed-in smell in a room that took water earlier in the week
Step out and get help if
- Standing water that reaches a wall outlet, a plugged-in cord or the breaker box: back out, keep dry footing, and call 911 from outside.
- The smell of gas, or a gas range or dryer in water: walk outside and call 911 or the company on your gas bill.
- A drain or toilet that is pushing water up: assume sewage, keep kids and pets away, and phone your town's water office.
- A ceiling bulging with trapped water above a wet room: clear everyone from underneath, and call 911 if it splits.
What is under a wet carpet
Lift the corner of a wet carpet and you meet three more layers. Under the carpet is a pad, usually foam. Under the pad is the subfloor, plywood or boards. Around the room, tack strips pin the carpet down while the baseboards and the bottom strip of drywall meet the floor.
The pad and the drywall behave like sponges. EPA's flood page lists absorbent materials that cannot be cleaned and dried as throw-aways. UGA Extension wants carpet dry within 48 hours. Anything that cannot be dried in that time goes out, unless it is structural.
What to know in these four towns
- Know who answers for the water before you need them. Each town has its own water office. Their numbers sit on the Bremen notes, the Waco notes, the Tallapoosa notes and the Temple notes.
- Outside the city limits, the Haralson water authority serves the unincorporated county and the city of Buchanan. Its office on Highway 120 in Buchanan lists 770-646-6633 and weekday hours from 8 a.m. to 4:45 p.m.
- Haralson County's climate page gives about 52 inches of rain a year, with February the wettest month at 5.3 inches. Wet floors here are not only a summer-storm problem.
Signs the floor will not wait for the weekend
A second room is turning damp. A stain has appeared on the ceiling below. The pad is still soaked after the source is off. Any of these says the water is moving, not sitting.
Call (678) 839-7986 with the address, the town and the rooms involved. A floor that looks dry but feels cool and smells musty is worth a call too, so mention it.
Questions, answered
How do I grade standing water from 1 to 10?
Think of a 1 as a few drops you already wiped off a dry floor. A 4 or 5 is wet carpet whose edges you can still see. An 8 to 10 is water near wires, a gas smell, a drain pushing sewage or a ceiling that bows. Those top grades go to 911 or the utility. From a 3 up, call (678) 839-7986 and name the wet rooms.
How long can a soaked floor wait before mold shows up?
EPA says that when a leak or spill is dried within 24 to 48 hours, mold in most cases will not grow. UGA Extension is blunter about floods: mold can start within 24 hours. Neither figure is a reason to sit and watch. Both argue against leaving a wet room to dry by itself.
What reading tells me the floor is dry enough?
EPA's flood page names a target for walls, cabinets and flooring before refinishing: a reading at or below 15 percent on a moisture meter. UGA uses the same 15 percent for wood framing before insulation or wallboard goes back. A hand cannot read that, so ask the contractor to write the numbers down.
Can the air conditioner help dry the room?
It depends on where the water went. EPA says not to use an HVAC system that the flood touched to dry the house. UGA mentions air conditioning with portable electric heaters when no dehumidifier is handy, and CDC suggests aiming fans outward at an open window or door. A contractor can say which applies.
Which photos help before anything gets moved?
Georgia's insurance department wants photos or video taken before temporary repairs, with receipts kept afterward. FEMA adds labelled photos of each room, along with the make, model and serial number found on a washer, dryer or water heater. Neither page says what a policy pays; that is between you and your insurer.
Is this page only for Bremen?
No. The same steps hold in Waco, Tallapoosa and Temple. Open the Waco notes, the Tallapoosa notes or the Temple notes, then call (678) 839-7986 with the street and the town.
Why two wet floors are never the same job
No price appears on this site. A contractor sizes the work from a short list, and you can answer most of it before dialing.
How many rooms are wet, and how far up the wall does the wet reach? How long has the water sat? What is the floor made of: carpet over pad, hardwood, tile over a slab? Was the water clean, or did it rise from a drain? Photos of each room help the contractor picture the job before a visit.
If baseboards or drywall come out
Cutting out wet drywall or lifting flooring raises two side questions. Does the town want paperwork for the repair? And who in Georgia may do which work? The paperwork page gathers what the four town offices and the state board say.