Flood

[Moisha]

1.1.11 brought some fun news from the boat, which we have entrusted to some friends. They left for a vacation over the freeze, failing to isolate the electrics. Came back to find a burst pipe and half a tank of water under--and over--the floor. Real crapper. Alas. So, we've got a hardwood floor with underlay and I wonder whether anyone has any experience with drying such a situation up. We've pumped the water out of the bilges, but now the question is whether one sends a blow heater into the bilges or lets the boards dry on their own (which I imagine--with the wet underlay and wet ply beneath--may take months and months. But quick drying may warp them??? Anyone who has had to deal with such a thing? Thanks, as ever. Anastasia

[Clivo]

1.1.11 brought some fun news from the boat, which we have entrusted to some friends. They left for a vacation over the freeze, failing to isolate the electrics. Came back to find a burst pipe and half a tank of water under--and over--the floor. Real crapper. Alas. So, we've got a hardwood floor with underlay and I wonder whether anyone has any experience with drying such a situation up. We've pumped the water out of the bilges, but now the question is whether one sends a blow heater into the bilges or lets the boards dry on their own (which I imagine--with the wet underlay and wet ply beneath--may take months and months. But quick drying may warp them??? Anyone who has had to deal with such a thing? Thanks, as ever. Anastasia

 

Do you have insurance that can deal with this?

 

A De-Humidifier might be better than a fan heater.

[Albion]

Do you have insurance that can deal with this?

 

A De-Humidifier might be better than a fan heater.

 

Agreed about the de-humidifier as a heater would require the doors and windows to be left open for days to disperse the moist warm air otherwise condensation, from those soggy surfaces, on other cold surfaces would put a lot of the water straight back into the boat. Anastasia's still going to have to keep emptying any de-humidifer tanks though. Insurance might be the way to go if you need industrial de-humidifiers for any length of time.

Roger

Edited January 3, 2011 by Albion

[ditchcrawler]

Anastasia's still going to have to keep emptying any de-humidifer tanks though. Insurance might be the way to go if you need industrial de-humidifiers for any length of time.

Roger

Unless you can stand it on the draining board so it drains into the sink.

[Moisha]

Dehumidifiers seem like a good option, except we do not have steady access to shore power (but could have some for a week or so) and the domestic ones need to work continuously, it seems, to produce results. Does anyone have experience with hiring industrial ones? Do they actually work in a matter of a week or so? PS: The flood seems to have been caused by the freeze: the water system was not drained and two of the three taps literally split at the seams and our Paloma heater exploded too. Quite a disaster. Does anyone know someone who could fix one?

 

Many thanks for all your advice!

Anastasia

[Bobbybass]

Hi...I'm in a better mood today..my sugar was a bit high yesterday and I get weird...

Anyway...yes..I hired out dehumidifiers for some years.

The way they work is...they go into a cooling cycle...and the internal 'fins' ice over.....it fans the air from around the unit over the fins and moisture in the air freezes onto the fins. It then goes into a 'heating' phase and the frozen water melts and flows down into the collection tray. It can thus take several hours before this cycle establishes and so you have to give it a chance.Putting it on for...say 5 hours...will achieve little. You need to try and cut down external draughts of any kind..because it needs to reduce the hunmidity around itself in order to 'draw' from floors/carpets etc.

They work better if you can raise the surrounding air temperature a little..maybe with a fan heater. If you have had a large flood...as it sounds that you have....an industrial unit would be better....but they are very heavy and awkward.

You can ask the hire company for a 'litres per hour' figure..but don't hold up hopes of hitting that. There are too many factors...cold/heat/draughts...to be very accurate.

Don't forget...gas heaters or parafin are no use...as they give off more water than you will recover.

'Dehums' are good..but they need 24/7 on-time to be of use...that goes for domestic or industrial.

By the way...its surprising how much water you can draw out of carpets etc with a blue J-cloth..and keep it wrung out.

 

I should also have said...that the domestic and industrials work the same way...but the industrial usually has a larger 'fin' area....a more powerful compressor...so it can cool and heat in shorter cycles...and a larger capacity collection method.

 

Bob

Edited January 4, 2011 by Bobbybass