# Shop Submerged: Got any tips on recovery?



## thiel (May 21, 2009)

Gang,

My shop was completely submerged (8 feet deep) by Irene. I AM insured for flood and there are a lot worse situations out there, so my heart goes out to people who have bigger problems than mine. I hope everyone is safe after the storm, and if there's any help I can provide to folks near me, please don't hesitate to ask.

As for the flood, it brought lots of ULTRA-FINE silt into my shop, and all my tools were completely submerged in river water for about 6 hours. Since then they've been drying out, but I have not had the chance to wash/oil them because I've been dealing with other damage.

I wonder if any of you have experienced a flood and can share any lessons you learned on recovery? For example, is it worth it to try and refurb motors, or should I just replace? Refurbing takes time, but so does assembly of new stuff. As I said, I was insured for flood so replacement IS a possibility, but I hate to see stuff go to waste; that being said, I've always been a "time poor" woodworker, so it could take me months to get the shop back to fighting strength.

Thoughts? Thanks!

-David


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## jusfine (May 22, 2010)

David, so sorry that has happened, wish you all the best in your recovery, I have not any experience with a flooded shop (mine is in the loft of our barn).


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## Manitario (Jul 4, 2010)

sorry to hear about the flood David. I've regularly had water in the basement, but a 1/2 inch of water is nothing compared to 8ft, I can't imagine the sick feeling you must have had. I'm sure you'll get some good suggestions from the other LJ's here, hope you get things up and running soon.


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## MoshupTrail (Aug 11, 2011)

Aren't some motors supposed to be completely sealed to keep out dust? Will they also keep out water? They might. Would be worth a try for things like the TS and BS and the Jointer.


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## longgone (May 5, 2009)

I had a shop that was under 12 ft of water for 3 weeks and it pretty much ruined everything. Moved and built a new shop and bought all new tools.


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## Maverick44spec (Aug 7, 2011)

Never experienced a flood but I would try to salvage everything I could. Most of you hand tools are probable fine but they may rust. As for the power tools, I would try to clean them the best I could but if they are beyond repair, I would let insurence replace them. This is just my opinion. Sorry to hear about your shop.


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## MedicKen (Dec 2, 2008)

The motors will have to be completely disassembled and then rinsed with clean water. Then place them in a warm oven, 150-200 degrees, for a few hours to make sure they are dry. Air drying will work but will take days. The oven will slowly heat the parts and dry the insides of the windings. Water and electricity is usually not good. I have dried many motors this way over the years and have a 100% success rate.


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## Dennisgrosen (Nov 14, 2009)

realy sorry to hear I just myself experienced a floded shop 
but you wuold barely get wet feet with 4-5 inch compared to yours 
I wuold say let the powertools be even thuogh you can change motors 
its takes tooo many hours to clean them and they are prtty easy to priceset 
but its nearly impossiple to priceset all the small tools if there is older/vintage/antiqué
tool among them if you ever have try´d to lay them up to be photoghaphed
you will have a clue of how much you have then there is all the small estra´s 
that just make it a lot funnyer and easyer to use tools like the drillbits to drillpress or brace 
line washing and oil tables up in a room with a dehumidfire and heat 
wash and scrup the tools … dry them like if it was the dishes 
place them on the oiltable so the dehumidfire can take the rest then oil the metal with a 3 in 1 oil
yes it takes alot of time and you still have to wait for the woodhandles etc. to dry too
but the emergency oiling will give you the time to let it dry slowly don´t force the drying of the wood handles 
it will possiple take you the hole winter before you are finish but you will never be able to
get the same amount of tools exstra´s from wha the ensurance pay you even if they pay enoff 
it will take alot of time to collect them again if possiple …. many tools ain´t made today 
get some help from a few good freinds so you can get the washing done in relative short time ….
a weekend or two and let the insurence pay for the big stuff including cabinets shelfs etc. 
and all the screws nails and what ells hardware you have don´t forget the sandpaper , sharpeningstones,etc
there is a lot of small things that is just needed but can´t be saved … but cost a small fortune to get again
make a compleet list over it don´t gess what it cost….............you will gess way too low

good luck 
Dennis


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## DamnYankee (May 21, 2011)

While I am all about recovery, I think I'd look at it as an opportunity to upgrade some tools.


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## Flyin636 (Jul 29, 2011)

Best of luck with whatever you decide.Flyin636


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## Knothead62 (Apr 17, 2010)

Sorry to hear of your loss, along with a whole bunch of others, in the NE. People don't realize what damage and devastation flooding can cause. Good luck in recovering your possessions. Power tools would be a loss and not worth the time to try to rework them. Let the insurance folks take care of you.


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## racerglen (Oct 15, 2010)

I think the power tools are a write off.
Some years ago we rented a mobile home that had been flooded three feet up the walls. It'd been gone through by a professional resto company, but years later there was still fine fine dust everywhere ..you'd vacume daily, and still it came back. even with the motors sealed there'll be crud in there somewhere..and rust is comming as well..
Take the best payout you can get and good luck..


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## Earlextech (Jan 13, 2011)

I hope the LJ that posted a thread saying he thought the storm was overhyped reads this post. Sorry for your problems, I lost everything in Andrew years ago.


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## Bertha (Jan 10, 2011)

Sorry to hear this. I would listen to MedicKen's advice; he no doubt has restored more machines than I've even handled. I'm the type of guy that would probably worry about it for the rest of my life and would probably replace the machines that are more easily replaced. I'm not sure how your insurance works but if you get to KEEP the damaged goods, you could refurb a few and donate/sell them. It's just bad all the way around. I lost my house in Katrina and I won't even go into how much work I'd invested in the home.


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## patron (Apr 2, 2009)

sorry to hear this
my prayers for the insurance covering this

as you say
others had it even worse

thank God you are all safe


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## thiel (May 21, 2009)

Thanks guys (and gals). Honestly, we're in a good place. It's a bit of an odd situation, but I live at a school-in a school owned house-so the school facilities people (each one of whom is like Tom Silva on steroids) has already set about the cleanup of the house and grounds. We evacuated the house and moved just a few hundred yards up the street into a dorm with some friends. Bottom line is we've got it pretty easy as far as catastophes go.

I called an electrics repair joint in town they said to simply toss the small hand tools, so I instead gave them away to the temp workers who were helping to haul stuff out of the flood. I hope they get some use out of them. I had an old model planer, so I tossed that.

In terms of the stationery tools, I'd imagined that restoring my bandsaw (Grizz 14") would be relatively straightforward because it's open and upright and the motor just sticks in the side. Same thing with the jointer I think…. and felt the same way about my lathe: essentially put a new motor (or maybe whole headstock?) and I'd be back in business. The tablesaw is I think a different story… I could spend days on it and it would still be out of balance, rusting inside, etc.

I am even thinking about using my now-not-flat-bench for a while to see if it bothers me. I have other flat surfaces and I hate to see it tossed and useless.

Thoughts? Am I reading this right or is my ignorance showing?


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## tyskkvinna (Mar 23, 2010)

Oddly enough, when I had a flood in my shop a few years ago, the tablesaw was on the one that came out fighting just fine (and in fact, I still use it).


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## helluvawreck (Jul 21, 2010)

*Thiel*, I'm really sorry to hear about this and my heart goes out to you and all of the rest of the people who had damage, injury, or loss of life up that way. If you have a good insurance policy I would go that rout. You might could assess the situation to see if the insurance will allow you to buy all of the tools for a salvage fee after they have paid for the settlement. They will have to pay for the disposal of it anyway. This way at least your elbow grease would be worth while because your time is worth something. Anyways I would certainly go the insurance rout and start over. I hope it all works out for you.


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## pierce85 (May 21, 2011)

David, I'm really sorry to hear that. We were relatively unscathed down here as you know. If you need help with anything, moving equipment or whatever, let me know…


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## dbhost (Jul 20, 2009)

I have to ask. Do you have flood insurance? If so…. get ready to make some claims…

Living in Texas you could say I have some experience with flooding. Not me personally, but I have assisted with enough flood recovery from friends with homes in lower elevations than me… I picked my lot for a GOOD reason…

Hand tools should just require drying out, cleanup, and probably a little rust removal prior to oiling and putting back into service. Power tools will most likely require a complete teardown, thorough wash in completely clean water, preferrably distilled water with NO minerals in it what so ever, and then thoroughly dried in a low temp oven prior to lubrication and reassembly. It is possible that some bearings and switches that sort of thing will need to be replaced…

Things like paper element filters will need to be replaced. And unless you are absolutely certain of the seals on the cans and bottles, you might as well chuck every last bit of glue and finish you have in there…

Again, depending on your equipment, and insurance situation, this may be a blessing in disguise… This gives you an opportunity to, if you have older, worth restoring equipment that you have been nursing along gingerly, well this gives you a chance to go through a do some full restoration work on that gear…

I will say this. My table saw I bought from a fellow that had a fire in his shop. And while the saw was on the far end of the shop from the fire, there was a LOT of smoke and water involved. It took me a while, but I got everything cleaned up and have been using this thing now for, well it will be 3 years in January…


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## CharlieM1958 (Nov 7, 2006)

First of all, claim everything that was underwater as a loss.. You paid for your coverage, and it is not your responsibility to have to rehab anything. Even hand tools.

That being said, the insurance company is not going to confiscate the items you claim, so you are free to try and refurbish whatever you feel you can. Any tool you can put back into service will leave that much more cash in your pocket to cover replacements and upgrades.

I personally wouldn't mess with rebuilding electric motors, but it all depends on how hard you want to work to save some cash.


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## Lissajous (Jul 19, 2011)

I can't understand why someone would come on and say something like this storm was overhyped. Trying to show how 'macho' they are, maybe?

Two young men near where I lived decided to ignore the mandatory evacuation notices and "tough it out". Their bodies were found at the inlet to a jetty yesterday. I am sure they thought it was overhyped when they made their fatal decisions.

Other people a few towns over are struggling with all time record river heights that overtopped flood walls that were designed to withstand 100 year flood events. Turns out this was a more than a 100 year event.

The the local news here is still full of picture of towns inundated with water. I am sure that none of the people whose homes have been ruined think this was overhyped.


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## lew (Feb 13, 2008)

Fresh water flush to remove silt, WD-40 to displace the water, forced air drying, oil the bearings- if possible.
Use your flood insurance. It wasn't cheap and you have probably paid in more than you will get back anyway.


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## a1Jim (Aug 9, 2008)

So Sorry for your damage. I hope it all works out for you.


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## donwilwol (May 16, 2011)

Hey David. I used to travel out by the Deerfield from time to time. I remember a few times seeing it pretty high. I hope it works out for you. I do a lot of tool restoration for relaxation. I know its a bit of a sckness but none the less…..Don't let anything go to waste.


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## Bertha (Jan 10, 2011)

^I have Don's sickness, too. It's contagious but Don didn't give it to me. I like a combination of Charlie and Don's general advice. Together with MedicKen's and cr1's, I think you could have a lot of exciting stuff to look forward to. It's a drag, but it's not the worst drag you could have. My sincere best of luck!


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## Grandpa (Jan 28, 2011)

I volunteered in the Galvestan area after hurricane Ike. I realize we were dealing with sea water but they made them strip the wiring out of their homes. Everything went. Everything was a loss. Ever use LPS3? Supposed to be great stuff.


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## thiel (May 21, 2009)

Thanks gang… my read of the consensus is that I should salvage the things that won't take a zillion hours to salvage, but not feel too terrible about replacing. I am also definitely hearing that I should remember all the little things when filing my insurance claim; I think we'll hit our limit pretty easily, but it's a helpful reminder not to forget.

I do feel bad about it though… those tools served me well and I hate to see them abandoned.

Good news today on two fronts: we moved back into the house (no hot water yet, but we have power and the cleanup is well along) AND I finally found a good used pickup truck (been looking for quite some time!)

Incidentally… I can sand the crap outta cast iron, can't I?

-David


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## wildbill001 (Mar 2, 2011)

One of the things that my brother learned from Katrina was to write down everything that was lost. Note I said write, not necessarily claim. Sandpaper, screws, misc hardware, in addition to the big stuff. It was eye-opening for him how much that "little" stuff added up. He also discovered that while a power-tool my dry out and be workable in a few days or so, it usually died about 3-4 months later.

Oh, and don't forget the cabinets/containers that you stored stuff in as well, although it may be tough to assign a cost to an old maxwell house coffee can….


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## TopamaxSurvivor (May 2, 2008)

I HAVE NOTHING TO ADD ABOUT THE MOTORS OR ELECTRICAL. SORRY YOU HAD TO GO THROUGH THIS ;-((


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## MrRon (Jul 9, 2009)

Sorry for your loss. I agree with CharlieM1958 to claim everything and salvage what you can. Electric motors usually come through floods pretty well if you dry them and clean them. I'm sure you have some very good tools and some so-so tools in your shop. I would not bother much with the so-so ones and concentrate on those that are more valuable, especially any vintage power tools if you own any. The ones from Harbor Freight can be dumped. BTW, I survived Katrina. I live about 20 miles from the Gulf Coast. The worst that happened to me was the loss of a few roof shingles, a few trees and loss of telephone and power. I was up and running in a week. My old house that I moved from 2 years earlier, was flooded with 6' of water. Six years later and the Gulf Coast hasn't fully recovered. People are hesitant to rebuild in the same area.


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## thiel (May 21, 2009)

Some good-ish news today: my bench hasn't pringled as much as I thought it would, so I will probably not need to replace it (it was a storebought Veritas bench). It came through with some cracking and is only out of flat by less than a 16th, so I'll sand it down…. The gang that carried stuff out of my shop did me a favor and laid the bench down on a flat surface UPSIDE DOWN so all the weight has been bearing down on the top as it's dried out in the las t couple days.

I think I've decided to refurb my bandsaw, lathe, and jointer. Replacing planer (suggestions?) and tablesaw (going Sawstop I think). Not replacing mitersaw (didn't use it much). For power hand tools I'm going to step up to Festool on a few of them, and try to do without a few others.

For the next two days I'm derusting handtools. Wish me luck!


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## Dennisgrosen (Nov 14, 2009)

enjoy ! 

Dennis


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## thiel (May 21, 2009)

Hand tools derusted and oiled. Some pitting on my good chisels, but I'll survive. Also, saws not shiny anymore but I was going to polish then with 800 grit n think that will work?

Still waiting fr the insurance adjuster… and fr the floor to dry.


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