I live just outside of Pittsburgh. Won't bore you with the details, but we had record low temps in my area and sure enough a pipe burst in our finish basement. Luckily my wife was home and was able to minimize the damage by shutting off the mains, but our room is pretty shot. Had a plumber out and rectified the issue. had them install a ball valve to completely cut off water to the line, so shouldn't have an issue moving forward.

Already filed a claim and had mitigation come out and drop off fans, dehumidifier, air cleaner, and disinfectant. That's where I'm at in the process. It took about 3 days to hear from mitigation so I rather than let things sit, I started removing the wet drywall ( about 8" off the ground) around the entire perimeter of the room. A contractor is supposed to come out this week and do an estimate. As a belt and suspenders kind of guy, I'm researching best practices so help minimize damage in the future and wondering what others have done in a similar situation. Along with the cleanup, I think some alternative construction needs to be explored as well.

Somethings I noticed about the existing construction that is questionable: Room is 20 x 12 with minimal ventilation.
- One 12' wall ( under egress window) and the 20' outer perimeter wall is CMU with nailers spaced 16" oc infilled with Styrofoam. The entire wall was draped
in plastic with drywall over that. Given the initial remodel was done some time ago, it might have been accepted practice.
- Nailers are run directly to the slab with no isolation barrier. As far as I can tell they are not pressure treated or rated for ground contact.
- Drywall on all four walls was placed directly on the slab without some sort of gap to the floor.

To me if I fix it just like it was, I'm just asking for moisture problems in the future. Any suggestions as far as construction methods go? Will ask contractor, but would like to have some backup plans and avoid being steered in the wrong direction. In all my research everything listed above is an absolute no no in a basement / below grade room.

Now to the games... So luckily the arcades and pins were not damaged. Space is an absolute premium in my house so I do not have the ability to remove the games from the area at this time. I cleaned them, wrapped them in plastic, and moved them into the center of the room for now. When it comes to the repair work I think I'm going to have to move them in the garage temporarily which is not heated until the work is complete ( approx 1 - 2 weeks?). So...

- Has anyone done this before ?
- Is having them wrapped in plastic a good idea ?
- Is there any danger in damage if they are only out there for 2 weeks or so if temps are relatively stable?

Any advice is appreciated, Thanks !

Thanks for the replies. So if I do move them to the garage, maybe cut the plastic and tarp them with moving blankets instead?

Thanks Rdoyle. Ideally this is what should have been done and what I'd like to do. I guess my issue is what would insurance cover and what will be out of pocket at this point. I doubt they are going to authorize a full tear out and re-frame. I looked into the Dricore, but I think its going to put me way over budget. Ive been looking into some LVT which are water proof as an alternative option for flooring.