And the repairs commence

The water has stopped coming in the walls, and the smell of nastiness has commenced. So we knuckled down and got down to tearing out the ruined drywall. I found a couple of pros on the 'net who said you could actually dry it in place, but I'm really not confidant that was possible in our case. After much debate, we started with a technique to cut the wall 16" off the floor (the top of the wet line), tear the wet stuff out, then do a finish cut 20" above the floor in the dry section of the drywall.

Step 1: Mark 2 lines, cut the lower one 

Step 2: Push in

Step 3: Start pulling 

The piece come 

Ready for final cutting

KC cuts...

...and kicks...

...and pulls.

And so it went. We quickly quit doing the double cut, and started just cutting at the 20" mark, using cool little drywall saws that KC found. Soon the wet stuff was disappearing.

Working away down the walls 

Mostly done 

Large spaces cleared

We found a few horrors. In one area, the smell got worse and worse as time progressed and we got closer. We pulled the wall off, and found a mouse cemetery.

One recently dead one in the upper corner

Our hope is that these are the ones who have been eating out mouse poison, dying and drying up. We would like to believe that they only started to smell because they got wet. We would like to believe they're the only ones left in the house. We would like to believe that we will win the $10 million lottery next week.

We found poop of some animal, though what kind we don't know.

Pine martin? Cat? Dog?

We found a bunch of mold, especially around the back of the furnace. I didn't stop to take many pictures of the black splotches on the drywall. But I did get pictures of the wood it was attached to.

Black wood 

A close up

The mold was old (hey, that rhymes). It's clear the basement flooded in the past, and someone tried to dry it in place (and failed). We sprayed the moldy wood (and the mouse cemetery) with a LOT of bleach. Here's hoping.

Now, we're running a lot of fans and the basement is finally drying. There was a bunch of moisture behind the walls that will now dry -- including the base of the fireplace, which is in the centre of the house, meaning the water was coming up from underneath, too.

Moisture at the bottom

The bad stuff is gone, and the drying will take a few days. So tomorrow, we're going to take it easy.

On a separate note, I had to go out and get supplies today. The roads are returning to normal (though travel between Banff, Calgary and Canmore is challenging). On my way to Canmore, I saw this. Last week, it was a creek channel. Today, it is the aftermath of the floods, and it's no longer a creek channel, it's just a pile of rubble.

There was a creek channel there last week 

That wasn't there 

Also not there

I saw mud in Canmore in places mud shouldn't be. But the mess is getting cleaned up.