Our basement den was finished with wood paneling decades ago. Can it be saved?

Sometimes. Solid wood paneling that got wet from clean water can often come off, dry and go back up. Thin paneling with a pressed backing usually swells and has to go. Either way the wall behind it gets metered, because that's where the water sits.

The boiler room took on water in October. Can we turn the heat back on while you dry?

If the water stayed below the burner and the controls, usually yes, and the warmth helps the drying. If the burner or wiring got wet, leave it off until your boiler service company checks it. We work around whichever it is.

I'm in a co-op on Ocean Avenue and the leak came from the apartment upstairs. Can I call you, or does the building have to?

You can call. We'll come look and document your unit. Management usually decides on work to walls, pipes and shared areas, and we'll share our readings with them so the repair isn't held up.

Water Damage in Midwood, Brooklyn | All Star Restoration

The Basement

Boiler, washer and den on one floor

In a Midwood house, a leak almost always finishes in the basement, because that's where these houses keep their plumbing, and it's the lowest floor. City Planning's Midwood rezoning, adopted in 2006, covered about 80 blocks of mostly two- and three-story detached and semidetached houses, in an area mainly built up by World War II.

In the houses we see here, one level holds the boiler, the hot water tank, the washer, a den or playroom, and a few decades of stored boxes.

A split hose, a tank that gives out, a floor drain pushing back in a downpour: all of it lands on that floor. And a finished room hides how far it spread.

Corner By Corner

Five corners of a Midwood basement

The layout changes house to house, but water tends to start or collect in the same five spots. Here's what fails in each, and what to look at on a dry day.

The laundry corner

What fails: washer hoses that crack with age, a drain hose that jumps out of the standpipe mid-cycle, and the floor drain beside the machine. That drain connects straight to the sewer, so when the street line backs up in heavy rain, it comes up right there. More on washing machine leaks.

What to check: bulges or rust at the hose ends, and the two small valves behind the washer. If the floor drain has gurgled during a storm, ask a plumber about a backwater valve.

DEP's flood preparedness flyer says the valve can keep sewer water out of a house, and warns against using basement fixtures while it's shut.

The boiler room

What fails: the boiler's relief valve, a weeping fitting nearby, and the water heater, which usually goes all at once when the bottom rusts through. The first cold night in fall often exposes a tired heating joint. More on water heater leaks.

What to check: crust or a rust ring under the tank, a damp spot under the relief valve's pipe, and the cold-water valve that feeds the heater.

The finished den

What fails: nothing in here leaks, but this is where damage hides. Paneling or drywall on furring strips over block, carpet and pad right on the slab. Water from the boiler room slips under the wall and wicks up behind the panels while the carpet still feels almost dry.

City Planning’s rezoning notes that small-scale building in Midwood continued into the 1980s, so one block can hold basements finished in very different decades. That is why we read every wall before deciding what comes out.

What to check: a dark line at the bottom of the paneling, a musty smell, carpet that's cold and heavy at the edges. EPA's mold and moisture guide sets 24 to 48 hours as the window for drying wet areas to prevent mold growth, and the den is where that window gets missed.

Moisture meter at the bottom of an opened basement wall — Checking the bottom of a wall for moisture

Storage and the space under the stairs

What fails: cardboard boxes on the bare floor soak up the first inch of water and stay wet for days.

What to check: shelves or plastic bins. EPA's target for indoor humidity is under 60 percent, and 30 to 50 is better. A cheap meter on the shelf tells you if this corner runs damp all summer.

The outside stairwell door

What fails: many houses have steps down from the yard to a basement door, with a small drain at the bottom. Leaves clog it and a summer storm pours in under the door. DEP's flyer names basement doors among the below-street spaces most vulnerable to flooding.

What to check: clear that drain every fall, and look for a water line inside the door.

First Hour

Water on the basement floor: your first move

In a Midwood basement, your first move depends on which corner the water is coming from. Get people upstairs, stay off a wet floor near outlets or the panel, then shut off the source if you can reach it safely.

Laundry corner: close the two valves behind the washer.
Sewage from the floor drain: stop running water anywhere in the house and call 311. DEP commits to an inspection within six hours after a 311 report, though heavy rain can delay it. The pipe between your house and the street is yours to maintain; the sewer under the street is the City's. Keep the 311 service request number.
Boiler room: if water reached the burner, kill it at the emergency switch, often at the top of the basement stairs. For the water heater, close the cold supply valve on top.
Can't find it: close the main, usually on the front wall where the line enters from the street.

If a pipe, the washer or the water heater let go, photograph the rooms and the source first. Then call 646-543-2242. Dispatch answers 24/7.

Apartments

The avenue apartment buildings

City Planning's rezoning document puts apartment buildings of four to eight stories along Avenue K, Ocean Avenue, Kings Highway and parts of Avenue N. Live in one of the avenue apartment buildings? Start with the super.

In those buildings, the water usually comes from above. A line or a tub upstairs lets go and shows up as a stain or a drip in your ceiling.

Get the super or management to shut off the source, then call us. We meter your unit and its neighbors and record where it started. Our Sheepshead Bay page covers how that plays out in a co-op.

How The Job Runs

From pumped out to put back together

The job ends when our meters say the basement is dry, not on a date picked in advance. Then the same crew rebuilds.

Extract. Pumps and extraction pull the standing water and empty the carpet and pad.
Remove. Wet paneling, drywall, insulation and pad come out. Sewer water is Category 3, so less gets saved.

Technician in protective suit removing wet drywall — Removing wet drywall and paneling

Treat. We wash down the slab, block and framing, then apply an antimicrobial.
Dry to readings. Air movers and dehumidifiers run day and night, with readings in each corner daily. Most basements are dry in much less than a week.
Rebuild. New walls, new floor and paint, all by our own crew.

For a burst pipe or a failed water heater, your adjuster gets our photos and readings.

What drives the cost is how much finished wall and floor has to come out and whether it was sewer water. The estimate is free.

For the rest of the borough, see water damage across Brooklyn.

Water Damage Restoration in Midwood