Bathwater ran into heater vents: what should I do?

[Chris]

It happened in Aug. 2003, learning more about my home, there is a barrier underneath, did it dry? Or did I commit a major boo-boo in thinking it would?
What do I do?

[Tracy]

Chris,

Depending on how much water your talking about here would depend a lot on what you should do, or be looking for long term.

I worked on a home a couple years back that was flooded all weekend from a washmachine line breaking. Even though the home was completly stripped of all vinyl and carpet, including pad, the drywall soaked up water like a sponge. The ducting crossovers were replaced along with 4' of sheetrock throughout the entire home..

The new owners complained of being sick and hired a company to check the home for mold.. Last I heard, it was still pending legal matters.

If your home has a rodent barrier attached directly under the floor joists, make sure you open it up and allow it to dry out. Especially if you see if hanging down full of water. This will also help your floor joists from swelling and bowing. Run your fan on the furnace as much as you can to help dry the standing water after you have removed all the excess you can reach using a wet vac in the ducts.. If you have flexable duct crossovers or flexable ducts from the main trunk line servicing registers, you may want to think about getting them replaced.

But, all this is for a worse case flood.. If you only lost a couple of gallons of water, chances are you will be okay simply cleaning up any water you had standing on the floor.. Do some inspecting, and remember there is a lot of advice here from others as well if you need.

Good Luck

Tracy

[chris]

Thank you for the advice. I think it was only a couple of gallons, but we will be inspecting..... Thanks again!
Chris