# After a flood, okay to remove less than bottom 2 feet of drywall?



## Nealtw (Jun 22, 2017)

patchtaper said:


> Some emergency flood restoration workers say that it's necessary to remove drywall touched by water, starting at the floor, up to two feet (60cm). To me, that sounds suspiciously like a magic number, not necessarily supported by science.
> 
> Would it work to simply remove the baseboard, and then cut out a much smaller height of drywall that is thus exposed behind the baseboard? The goal is to avoid visible cosmetic damage to wallpaper or painted texture, after the baseboard is nailed back into place.
> 
> ...


 2 feet is the safe number to be sure that you have all the wet drywall and yeah you could likely get away with less but be prepared to pay a lot more, because now the seam that has to be filled will be way down low. 

:wink2:


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## Domo (Nov 9, 2018)

2' and 4' are pretty much what the fellows remove after a flood. Both sizes make it very easy to fill since the replacement sheetrock is 4' wide - therefore you get two 2' pieces or one 4' piece when it comes time to do the repairs. You really don't want to bother cutting some 6" section, or 18" section and scrap the leftovers. As Nealtw aptly said - it'll cost MORE if the fellow is down on his knees trying to to the finish work.

The key is to get rid of all the dampness - you're not trying to minimize material.

Most of the work I've done has followed 4' removal - life is easier and the cost of sheetrock is certainly not a major player in recovering a person's home.


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## chandler48 (Jun 5, 2017)

Remember, too, not only the sheetrock got wet. The framing behind it got wet, and will wick water faster and further since its grains are vertical. It all has to be exposed, dried, or replaced, and 2' is a conservative number.


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## mark sr (Jun 13, 2017)

..... and in the scope of all the repairs - drywall is cheap!


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## John Smith_inFL (Jun 15, 2018)

is there going to be an insurance claim ?
if so, the claim adjuster may dictate how much remediation is required.
if not - use your own best judgement based on all the circumstances
of how much water was on the floor and for how long it was there.
I had 4 inches of water in my second shop for over 24 hours - needless to say
it was a pretty expensive nightmare and learning experience for me.
I had no flood insurance so it was all OPE for me.
wishing you all the best in your repairs.

.

.


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## joecaption (Nov 30, 2011)

A narrow strip of sheet rock would also not be fun to try and finish, it will keep flexing as your trying to apply the tape.


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## Colbyt (Jan 27, 2014)

I could not find an official site with the information but the general rule is at least 12" above the water line. 



I personally even paying out of pocket would follow the nominal 24 or 48" rule.


Edit: I knew I read it somewhere. The official guidelines.




> If drywall or plaster has been saturated by contaminated floodwater, it should be removed. Respiratory protection should be worn when removing drywall as some older drywall joint compound contains asbestos. If the water level was less than 2½ feet, the wall material should be removed to a height of 4 feet to facilitate reinstallation of full sheets of drywall. If the water level was greater than 2½ feet, the wall material should be removed to a height of 8 feet or the ceiling junction, whichever is higher. Electrical outlet and wall switch plates and door and window moldings must be removed prior to the tear out of the wall material.
> 
> Source: https://www.fema.gov/media-library-data/20130726-1604-20490-7953/fema549_apndx_e_ra2.pdf


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## huesmann (Aug 18, 2011)

joecaption said:


> A narrow strip of sheet rock would also not be fun to try and finish, it will keep flexing as your trying to apply the tape.


Right. With a 2' strip you can at least have the bottom of the tape joint pre-beveled—still gotta do something about the existing top of the joint, but it's better than having to do both!


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## unlim3 (Nov 28, 2017)

Or u can dry it out and it might just be ok, if your insurance co doesn’t cover it, and if it didn’t get too wet or damaged, mold doesn’t always grow if it’s dried right away, just sayin 


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk


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## mark sr (Jun 13, 2017)

Unless the drywall just got wet on the surface it would be next to impossible to dry out the other side of the drywall and the stud cavity. Even harder to dry out insulation. I'd at least cut out an inspection hole if I was to consider not replace the bottom section of drywall!


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## Gymschu (Dec 12, 2010)

I've done a number of these types of jobs over the years and I've seen it done both ways. It depends on the insurance carrier. One may require 4 feet of removal, another, 2 feet. I never minded doing the 2 feet jobs although it meant being down on my knees more. The insurance companies I did the work for seemed more concerned about the wood, i.e., the framing as @chandler48 alluded to, and any trim that got soaked by water. Trim was usually torn out and thrown away and the studs were treated to remove mold/mildew.


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## chandler48 (Jun 5, 2017)

For practicality, removing 4' on a horizontal initial install makes better sense. It leaves you with two factory edges, easy to tape and mud, and you can stand up doing it. Sheetrock is cheap. Finishing ain't.


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## Timborooni (Apr 16, 2011)

Being on the coast and lots of drainage canals and such, stuff happens. Heck, a lot of this area used to be swampish before the drainage canals. When things flood, there is all kinds of nasty stuff in that water. You don't want that on your walls, inside your walls, soaked into your insulation. It is typical to cut about 3-4 feet up from the floor and leave it open for a time to dry with lots of air circulation. Did one, I think maybe last year(?) where the previous year the kitchen was remodeled. I'm not sure how much water entered the home, but all the cabs had to come out, maybe even appliances as well. I do know the old fridge that they had put in the garage was lost. The family was experiencing a lot of problems, Dad had also suddenly died. Felt real bad for them, but it is what it is. Better safe than sorry. Fema is sometimes involved.


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## Oso954 (Jun 23, 2012)

> Would it work to simply remove the baseboard, and then cut out a much smaller height of drywall that is thus exposed behind the baseboard? The goal is to avoid visible cosmetic damage to wallpaper or painted texture, after the baseboard is nailed back into place.
> 
> The worker could just place hot air blowers so that the air flow is directed toward the bottom of the drywall. Isn't that good enough?
> 
> As long as the drywall does not receive an ongoing source of water over time, mold cannot survive. So what's the worry?


Why are you asking ?
Did your bathtub overflow, or did flood water rise up and enter the house from outside?

If it flooded into the house, how deep was the water ?

There are a lot of concerns in addition to mold when dealing with flood waters. 

Blowing hot air at the bottom of the drywall (into an otherwise closed studbay) is something you would do to encourage mold growth.


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