suggestions, but they really only work on a very small scale, not for a basement flooding issue.

Musty odors are mold odors. No smell no mold. That simple. Even dry dead mold will create odors should the humidity level rise. Because as humidity levels rise the once dormant molds come back to life again. Much like the grass on the lawn. Goes dormant in winter but add moisture and just a tiny amount of heat and you have mold again.

Check with your insurance company, Although they will not cover the mold clean up, but some still do, they should be able to pay for the lost items as a result of the water.

You need to dry out the basement within 24 hours or mold will begin to grow. Once this occurs you need to remove everything that cannot be cleaned. Carpets go out. If they can be professionally cleaned at a store fine, If not discard. Cleaning in place does not work, it only promotes more mold.

Wall board, paneling must be cut back to at least 12 inches above the water line. More if water sat for longer periods of time.

Once everything has been discarded that could not be cleaned and dried using HOT water and detergent your next step is to attack the walls. All exposed framing must be thoroughly cleaned, then sanded to aid in removal of stains. You will not be able to remove all stains, but at least try to remove any surface fungal evidence if you can. Then using a moisture meter test the wood and once it is down to around 12-14% you can paint. Ideally you want to use a professionally applied anti fungal encapsulate on the framing, but if that is not available, prime heavily using Kilz or similar anti microbial primer. Remember pretty is out, You want to apply heavy and thick to assure all exposed surfaces that had contained moisture or visual mold was covered.

If the wood remains damp you need to dehumidify the basement as much as you can. Many rental places rent commercial dehumidifiers for around $20 a day. Leave it run non stop for several days until the basement is desert dry.

Then and only then can you rebuild the walls and put your life back again.

buried in the ground. In some areas watch for snakes. They love the small house like environment that the valve boxes construct.

I would have no idea on how to clean valves, unless they can be taken apart. But with all that effort I would simply replace the valves with new ones. They should be connected using fittings that can be taken apart, if not you will need to cut the plastic and then repair the pipes in order to connect the new valves.

Lastly it is not uncommon for older systems to begin to fail. Parts wear out and being incorrectly winterized can cause all sorts of issues.

Ideally you want to do the outside if at all possible. While pitching soils, capping soils with clay based materials, piping water from gutters away from the house will slow down the effect of moisture or water coming in, the fact remains water will still leak into the house because you have done nothing to stop it only moved it away from the leaky wall.

Painting the walls on the inside looks fine, but over time they will begin to leak again. Installing french drains on the inside will help control the water, but again the water is coming into the house. Digging soils outside down to the footing, then cleaning, and sealing the walls using asphalt and few other items is really the only correct way to water proof.

Depending upon your ability level, depth of foundation and extent of the issue, you may be much better off having this work done for you.

every joint and hole in the ducts. This will help prevent air loss and increase the efficiency of the system overall.

If your home has cooling issues when its hot, I would suggest that the contractor do two things.

1. Do a manual J heat load on the house to determine if the size of the system is correct for the home. Many systems are oversized and that is costly to you and can cause discomfort in the way of excessive humidity.

2. Do a manual D duct sizing on the house. Once you are sure your current system is correctly sized then you can check the current size of the ducts to what the report findings suggest. Manual D will determine exactly what size ducts are required to deliver the correct amount of air to each and every room. If they are incorrect and sometimes they are, you may want to change a few or just one to make the system perform better.

Once both of those things are done and the proper equipment and duct sized are installed. Then you should insulate the ducts with at least 2" of foil back insulation to assure against condensation. It is very important that the outside foil vapor barrier be properly sealed to prevent condensate from forming and the possibility of mold development.

Try to limit the flex ducts as much as you can. They are impossible regardless of what duct cleaning companies tell you to properly clean. And the longer they are the worse the air flow coming out the other end. Do NOT use any duct board or interior duct lining on the system. The liners and duct board are made of fiberglass and if not done properly will result in fibers being released into the air. Not a good thing.

Put it on a set of saw horses so your not bending over. Put this perhaps on the driveway because cleaners and lots of water is involved.

Remove the plastic cover on the front to expose the fins and perhaps the filter. Using care not to damage the fins or the tiny tube that may be attached to the front of the fins itself.

The plastic cover that was removed can be scrubbed clean with any quality cleaner that will not harm plastic. Good old warm and soapy water always does the trick. A soft brush will aid in getting between the grooves in the panel.

ON the AC system itself. Tape a plastic baggie over the control section. Then simply using a soft scrub brush and water wash the unit down. Hose it off as needed. Just try not to direct the water onto the control area and directly onto the fan motor that drives the blower and outside fan part. Try to spray the foam or metal tray that the coil sits on, and be sure to spray and brush well the inside blower wheel that should be partly exposed from where the air comes out. The better you clean, the better the fan will blow cold air.

There is really nothing you can hurt as long as you attempt to keep water out of where the wires and switches are connected. Once done, tilt and move unit around to dump as much water you can out of the unit and let sit for a few hours to let it dry off in the hot sun. Just try not to turn the unit upside down. Once that is done and if the system is a 110 volt unit, plug it in and run the fan on high. This will help blow out any water that may be hidden in cavities that you cannot see plus is will dry it off better before you install it and run it.

condensate line as well. If that is the case, you need to be careful with putting any nails near them as they are high pressure sometimes going up as high as 450PSI.

OK, you have a few options. One build a false wall in front of them. Simply nail vertical boards that extend out further then the widest pipe. Then once those are fastened in place fasten a thin sheet of drywall or paneling on those vertical boards. These vertical boards are the "cleats" that SLS Construction Solutions suggested.

For the ceiling, once the wall is corrected you would do simply the same thing. Fasten boards that extended down below the pipes then fasten a new drywall sheet to those boards. Effectively closing in the pipes. Realistically however ceilings are not as big of an issue then a wall. Most folks do not look at the ceilings as they would looking at a wall. So I like them would really only focus on the walls putting my effort in that location.

Another way to do this is to purchase plastic louvers that are used on windows. Have them cut to the width of the wall and hang them on the ceiling and allow them to extend down as low at you can.

I do have one concern however. You stated that you already hung a curtain down in front of the equipment to hide this part of the system? Please be really careful when doing such a thing. Many furnaces on the front can become quite hot and if the curtains for what ever reason come into contact with the equipment you can cause a fire. If your really close because of lack of space I would suggest that you purchase bi-fold louver doors that already have the hinges on them, paint them and stand them up in front of the equipment. They can be easily moved for service and will not be drawn into the system as curtains possibly can.

cooling system shares the same transformer for the 24 volts or if it does not.

The furnace thermostat uses only two wires. (W)hite and (R)ed. The red wire comes from the transformer in the furnace up to the thermostat. Once the thermostat calls for heat it makes a connection to the (W)hite wire which is then connected to the gas valve and it powers it up and turns it on.

In traditional heating and cooling systems the (R)ed wire comes up to the thermostat which like before is the power from the transformer. The switch somewhere on the thermostat selects what wires will be powered up when the thermostat calls for heat or cooling. In the case of heating the same thing as above takes place, the power is connected from the (R)ed wire through the thermostat then back to the (W)hite wire and the heat runs. In the cooling mode the power goes from the (R)ed wire to the (Y)ellow wire, which in turn powers up the outside part of the cooling system. Also at the same time the (G)reen wire which is connected to the relay in the furnace is powered up in conjunction with the (Y)ellow wire control and the fan starts at the same time the AC turns on. Lastly of course the (G)reen wire is turned on by itself should you turn the switch that says fan on/auto to the on position. It is then the fan runs regardless if the heat or cooling system is running on its own.

So to recap. R is transformer, Rw is 2nd transformer should two exist. W is heat, W1, W2 is additional stages of heating should your furnace require this type of connection, Y is cooling and Y1, Y2 etc are different stages of cooling again dependent upon the type of system you have. Lastly G is the fan control. Ideally the wires are connected based upon their colors that match the screw letters. However this is not always the case, so beware, do not try to connect these colored wires to the color letter. It may not always be the same.

On some older systems the AC system contained its own transformer. When that was the case, the power that comes from the AC system is connected to the RC post and the (Y)ellow wire is connected to the Y post as before. IN your case even if its not age related, if you have a 2nd independent AC system perhaps located in the attic and the furnace or boiler is located elsewhere. Get a pro to do this wiring. It can be done, but its tricky assuring your wires are connected to the correct side of each transformer as this makes a big difference depending upon how each system is wired.

As A1tec service stated, I would suggest that you hire a pro to do this wiring for you. Let them purchase the correct thermostat that has the features you want in conjunction with the proper sub-base needed to wire the system(s) you have.

springs as the stairs open and close. And if the part in which those arms appears to be coming loose. I would suggest replacement of the stair case as that type of repair can not be performed. New stars are not very expensive and depending upon how often you access the attic, some of the better quality ones are like walking up a standard stair case instead of climbing a ladder.