How to Treat a Flooded Basement

Attach a sump pump to the water hose. Submerge the sump pump into the water. Make sure the pump is sitting on a flat surface. Run the other end of the water hose outside of the basement into your yard. The sump pump will suck the water up and deposit it in the area where the other end of the water hose is pointing.

Allow the sump pump to run until the water is completely drained. If your basement is full or almost full of water, pump no more than 3 feet of water out a day to prevent the walls from cracking or collapsing. If your basement has a drain, make sure there is nothing clogging or blocking it.

Shovel up any mud that is present on the basement floor. Use a water hose to rinse residue off hard surfaces, walls and floor. Direct the water towards the drain.

Discard porous items--such as paper and cardboard--that have been damaged and cannot be salvaged.

Remove hard items from the basement and lay them outside on a flat surface. Use the water hose to rinse them off. Clean the items with a solution of 1 gallon of water and 1/4-cup liquid soap. Rinse once again with the water hose and allow items to air dry in the sun.

Hose washable items off with the water hose and then launder as you normally would.

Create a cleaning solution of 1 gallon of warm water, 2 cups of bleach and 1/4-cup liquid dish soap. Saturate a stiff bristle broom into the mixture. Start by scrubbing the walls with the mixture and move to the floor. The bleach mixture will clean the area as well as kill mold growth.

Rinse the basement with the water hose once again.

Run fans and a dehumidifier to help dry out the basement and remove the moisture from the air. This will reduce the chance of mold growth. Consider running UV lights in the basement for 24 hours. The UV lights will kill mold growing in your basement.