My new 8,000 Gallon aquarium

[Steve]

My sisters basement is now my new 8000g koi pond. They had 2ft of water in the basement yesterday I spent the better part of 5 hours over there last night helping them out. Being an aquarist has some perks. She couldn't find any locations that had any pumps left for rental so I took all three of my 750gph submersible pumps off my koi pond and tanks and went over and set them up in their basement with hoses running up the stairs. I managed to drain 2ft of water out of their basement for them with my aquarium pumps in less than 5 hrs



They still have a mess to clean up now but at least getting the water out in a timely manner for them and not having it sit for days I think may have helped save a lot of stuff. My house was fine, no water inside, I live on a higher street. My boat was full of water though. Got the bilge pump running right now pumping 6" of water out of the boat.

Hope all you guys fared okay with this flood.

[Ron]

When I saw the news late last night I was thinking, what if aquarists banded together with all of our extra pumps and helped people pump water out of peoples basements?! Turns out some aquarists already do this. Good job Steve!

[linuxrulesusa]

That's a great idea.  I would not have thought of using the pumps that way but it makes perfect sense. 

Sorry for your sister's situation.  We were thankful to only have a tiny leak running from the laundry area to a floor drain, over unfinished tile.  Several friends of mine have sewage in their houses right now.

[cranialdisturbance]

Great thinking!  Now get over to the Lodge.

[Marty]

A sump pump with flexible hose (think like a pool drain hose that you roll up) is a good investment for times like these.  You just run the hose toward the street.

I'm glad you weren't hit Steve.  I was thinking about you the other day.

I was actually stuck at 696 & Mound and saw some of the insane flooding firsthand.  It was pretty wild to see the water and mud on 696 pouring down the embankment as I was on the service drive.

[danielratti]

Ive seen some of the pics from down there... Sucks a lot. I may have to go down there for work because our office owns some places down that way and they need the help.

[Steve]

Just spent another 5 hours over there helping them. Ripped out all the drywall in my Nephews room so the studs can start to dry out. Such a mess I feel so bad for them.  Judging by all the mounds of garbage at the curbs around Royal Oak area I saw tonight I would bet it looks like at least 30-40% of the houses in the area must have had flooded basements.

[Marty]

Just spent another 5 hours over there helping them. Ripped out all the drywall in my Nephews room so the studs can start to dry out. Such a mess I feel so bad for them.  Judging by all the mounds of garbage at the curbs around Royal Oak area I saw tonight I would bet it looks like at least 30-40% of the houses in the area must have had flooded basements.

The faster you get dehumidifiers running, the better.  Wear gloves at the least, and paint any studs with Kilz once they dry.  If they can afford it, they're better off paying a restoration company to do the cleanup because of the bacteria coming up from your drains.

[Steve]

Water restoration companies charge way too much so that's not an option for them. I've spoke to a few people today that had some quotes from companies and their prices were as much as $10,000 from a few places . That's just insane and taking advantage of people in a time of need IMO. It's just a time consuming job and you have to make sure to shower and clean up with antibacterial extremely well soon as we're done working.

[danielratti]

Find some moldstat and keep as clean as you can then. Our main office is in royal oak so if I get sent down there to work I can swing buy and help on my down time man.

[jcunningham0295]

Great idea Steve, sorry to hear about your sisters basement.  Yesterday was insane, took me over 4 hours to get home, thought I would be sleeping in the car for night.

[Steve]

Find some moldstat and keep as clean as you can then. Our main office is in royal oak so if I get sent down there to work I can swing buy and help on my down time man.

I hadn't heard of moldstat but I just googled it and it looks like something that would be wise to get. I'll have to swing by Lowes tomorrow and see if they have it in stock.