Drying a wet house: what the sources say about time

None of the pages used here says how many days a whole house takes to dry. They give starting points instead: dry out as soon as possible, deal with mold promptly, and treat an area showing moisture within 24 to 48 hours. The rest depends on the house, the water and the weather, and a contractor can explain how they judge it.

The CDC warns against touching a power switch or electric tool while standing in water. If the main switch can only be reached through standing water, it points to an electrician, who also checks the system before power returns. A gas smell means walking outside and phoning 911, or the Atlanta Gas Light leak line (877.427.4321), from there.

UGA Extension's moisture checklist covers peeling paint and discoloration. It tells readers to locate the moisture source, eliminate it, and get the area dry inside 24 to 48 hours. The number assumes the source is already stopped, and drying a ceiling that is still being fed from above gets nowhere.

The CDC describes fans at a window or door blowing outward, dehumidifiers, and opening windows and doors if the weather allows. Georgia's insurance office says large fans speed drying and curb mold. UGA Extension names indoor humidity over 50 percent as the point to consider a dehumidifier.

For a flooded house that sat closed up for several days, the CDC's advice is to assume mold is present. The EPA's point is that mold damages what it grows on, and the longer it grows, the more damage it can cause. UGA's field report calls blackish or greenish staining where water has been, or a musty smell, very likely mold.

In the Atlanta airport normals for 1991 to 2020, the monthly counts of days at 90 F or higher add to about 47 a year, with 16.4 in July and 13.7 in August. Rain of an inch or more shows up on about 15 days in a typical year, going by the monthly counts, and every month has at least 1.0 of them. Those figures come from the airport, not a Lilburn address.