Dishwasher leak, basement bedroom, bath and laundry in Elmhurst, IL

A dishwasher leak sent water down into the finished basement of this Elmhurst home, and the power was out when the call came in. Our project manager, Dylan, classed the water as Category 2. The first visit stabilized the space with three dehumidifiers, and the written plan told the crew to call before leaving the shop to ask whether the water level had gone down, and to bring the portable unit if it had not.

The main demolition came four days after that first visit, and the approach split the walls by type. Interior partition walls got core holes, small openings near the floor that let air move through the cavity without removing the drywall. Exterior walls, where insulation sits against the foundation and holds water, were cut two feet up, and the wet drywall and insulation behind them came out and were bagged. Flooring was removed throughout.

The work covered nine spaces: the main room, a coat closet, a shoe closet, a bathroom, a bedroom and its closet, the utility room, the storage under the stairs and the laundry room. In the bathroom the vanity and toilet were detached. Under the stairs the crew removed the wall paneling. In the laundry room they pulled the washer and dryer out and set them back, took off a cabinet toe kick and cut the cabinet's back panel to reach the wall behind it. In the bedroom the contents stayed under plastic. Screws were pulled, debris bagged, and every opened surface sprayed with antimicrobial.

The crew set twenty-six air movers and three dehumidifiers across those rooms, with a dehumidifier each in the main room, the bedroom and the laundry room. The full set was collected three days later, seven days after that first stabilizing visit.