I am ooking at buying a house on the Gulf Coast of AL which was flooded during a hurricane. The exterior is block and the sheetrock and insulation has been removed. I was wondering if there might be a material wich could be used for insulation such as open or closed cell foam or if not leave then a wallbaord that would drain with minimum damage if the structure were to be flooded in the future. Allot of our states have received significent flooding in the past few years I thought that maybe there would be new products out that would withstand the water and then dry-out without having to be completely torn out each time a flood were to occur. Obviously wiring may need protection also but has there been any insulation or wallbaoard developed for this flood/water/dry-out application ?

No response so far, so I'll chime in. I've thought about this problem before and toyed with the idea of using cement or acrylic stucco over rigid foam board as an interior wall surface. Acrylic stucco products like Dryvit are normally used for exterior wall finishes (EIFS), but I don't see why they couldn't be used on the interior. Only cost would be a barrier to going this route, but if flooding occurs often, the long term costs would be much less.

Clark; I don't think the dryvit would fare well left under water for a period of time. . . Tripleshoe, besides the drywall, wood base . doors trim, cabinets , etc. would all be destroyed by flooding. I have also seen ceramic floors over concrete get flooded and mold growth is trapped underneath in thinset, eventually degrades the bond

You're probably right, Chris, but can you explain why not?

Posted By Clark on 20 Oct 2011 11:43 PM
You're probably right, Chris, but can you explain why not?

Acrylic stucco products like Dryvit are not designed to be under water

Yes, that's true. On a permanent basis, but I wonder if it would stand up to being submerged for a few days. I can't imagine a house with exterior acrylic stucco over concrete block having to be redone after flooding for a short period aside from needing a good cleaning. But, I certainly could be wrong on that.

I agree that acrylic paint on block may be unaffected, however the question was how to add insulation to the masonry, your solution was to add a dryvit type (eifs) system. That would be:EPS, mesh, and base/finish coats. That is not simply acrylic paint to block, it is multiple layers applied to block. I doubt you would find any eifs system that would be warranteed after being submerged

I would be somewhat concerned that the concrete block still contained some moisture even if the block was grouted.  If the blocks do contain moisture, then that might cause problems later.  I suppose that each core could be drilled to drain the water.

Alton; you are right the pourous block would undoubtedly take on water. This was part of the dilaemma when hurricane Charlie hit south Florida the block cores also filled with water due to wind driven rain and took weeks to drain out, raised the humidity inside the un-airconditioned homes (power outage)and mold took over the interior of the homes.

I would think that rigid foam and MgO board (or similar) would be best. Along with a whole house fan and a generator to keep the interior humidity down.

Insulate by gluing 2" plus foam on outside. shotcrete everything in & out. or get a hopper gun fill with mortar type product float joints, do a thick orange peel finish, paint. works in New Orleans.

if you got lots of money hydroban the area, we did that for a rich dude in his garage once

subway tile wainscot around the whole garage over a mud job w/ hydroban water proofing.

Posted By cmkavala on 21 Oct 2011 07:48 AM

Posted By Clark on 20 Oct 2011 11:43 PM
You're probably right, Chris, but can you explain why not?

Acrylic stucco products like Dryvit are not designed to be under water

What about a product like StuccoMax??