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Show 8B Lakeside Review South, Wednesday r April 11, .1984 Afterwards: Cleaning the After a flood, one of the worst hit places in the house will be ihp basement. But before you en-- . ter a flooded you should follow some precautions. 1) Turn off the electricity at walls, settled walls, or heaved 3) Cover area with a polyethfloors. ylene vapor barrier. 1) Buckled walls are evidenced concrete floor , d) Lay A'A-ipc- h by horizontal cracking and walls 'with mastic joints between the moving out of plumb. When this floor and the walls. The floor , condition is minor, you need not should be reinforced with steel. ' ' the basement in stages. Remove about a third Of the water each day: Watch walls for signs of failing. If the outside water level rises again after the days pumping, start with a new water line. The soil may be very slow to drain, but do not hurry the . : . the meter. 2) Check outside cellar-wallfor evidence of structural darn-ag- e or other hazards. 3) Turn off gas or fuel service ' valves. . 4) Open doors and windows of use blowers to force fresh air into the basement. ? ?. Do not use an electric pump powered by your own electrical system. Use a pump or one connected. to an, outside Jine Fire departments in s pumping. Whatever is . repair the wall immediately;1 However any noticeably buckled wall will eventually collapse from normal ground pressures ' and seasonal temperature changes. When buckling has seri-- " ously weakened the wall, rebuild the damaged parts immediately. Build pilasters into walls over 15 feet long for reinforcement. Pilaster spacing should be 12 to 15 sub- merged in the flooded basement not be damaged further by delaying the pumping: serious structural damage may be pre' . vented. After water has been pumped from the basement, shovel out the mud and debris while it is still moist. Hose down walls to remove as much silt as possible, before it dries. Scrub walls and some communities nfay help floors with one of these sanitizi With such services, ing solutions: !: More be done by damage may ) Chloride of lime (25 percent pumping water from the, Jase available chlorine). Dissolve a riient too soon or too quickly,: c'an. in two gallons of ' ' than from letting the floodwatei? water. ' remain. Water ijg 4he basement2) High' test hypochlorite (65 helps brace thiTwalls against the percent available chlorine). Stir d extra pressure of five ounces into two gallons of soil outside. If water is pumped ? water.,? . out too soon,' wallst may Check supporting columns, in, or floors pushed up.3 beams, floors. Struc- 'To help prevent such struct ur-- i tural damagclto flooded base- al damage,. pump the water from ments usually; includes buckled will ce - water-logge- ' Tax a) Remove old, broken . jon y r , - ; . 1 con- ' ' crete. : b) Place 6 inches of gravel fill Before and after photographs,-receipt- s, Property losses from natural-disastecancelled checks, deeds, are tax deductible. Such? deductions, which are allowed ; purchase contracts, and profesfor partial of total loss of per- - sional appraisals are good supsonal or business property, could porting evidence for casualty Li greatly reduce" the amount of claims. federal income taxes owed for If either personal or business the year the disaster occurred. ? property has been damaged exIf you claim a theft or casualtensively,, you should have' the ty loss resulting from a disaster property appraised as soon as you may be asked to show; possible following the disaster, A :?a) The kind of disaster and professional estimate of value when it occurred will serve as evidence for casualdiThat the a was ty loss claims. The fee charged is ,.b) damage t also a deductible item. : rect result of the disaster If you itemize your tax deducc) That you were the owner of K tions, the property you may deduct casuality d) The cost of the property: losses from fire, storm, theft or sudplus the cost of any improve-ment- s property destroyed by some . - - . force. external den ? ;? Such losses must be reduced, e) Depreciation allowed or lowable, if any by any salvage value or insur--? 0 Fair market value before, ance award plus $100 on personand after the disaster al losses. The deduction is ' g) Any insurance benefits or, limited to the cost basis or the other compensation received in- fair market value at the time of cluding free repairs, restoration the disaster, whichever is less. The rules for figuring deducand cleanup from any disaster tions on business or relief agencies. : ' new floor: walfs-anc- ;7Vf inches thick. . ; - ht In houses without basements the area below the floor may be completely filled with mud. Remove the mud as soon as possiout the structure. Repairs, are ble to avoid rotting joists or. difficult without special equipfoundation wood. Jack up the ment. Contact a reliable contract house, if necessary, to make sure tor for this work. , ? all. mud is removed. 3) Heaved floors are those that have notxeturned to their original level, or have, cracked badly. You may need to construct a ' V. mid-heig- feet. 2) Settled walls and footings are indicated by vertical cracks either in small areas or through- ; . Welded wire1 reinforcement in the slab placed at is a minimum reinforcement. If a floor is badly cracked, but . has returned to its original level, ? and if there is sufficient headr; room, place a new floor over the old one. Add a vapor barrier be- tween the two floors. The new floor should be at least two -- the basement floor surface.? ness property --Josses are the same. ' ' ! ... If a business or income-pro-:'- ? ducing properly s completely destroyed by. a casualty, special rules apply. In such cases the full adjusted cost, basis, a taxable gain results. , . ' ? ' ?. ' For mote details contact your? for ad- - ?, vice on figuring these tax loss . deductions. Or consult the pub- lication, Tax Information on pi- -' sasters, Casualty Losses and Thefts. Printed by the Department of the Treasury Internal Revenue Service. Ask for publi- available at 7 cation 547(7-72- ) any Internal, Revenue office? local tax representative , f - al-- T ? ; non-bus- i- . ; u.'VMrttSA . r tW fj 0 f Yf S.V.V V Vrtsv - |