Ladies, I am wondering if anyone knows how to deal with a very wet carpet that has been wet since Monday? We had our radiators filled for the first time since buying our home and there was a leak in my daughter's room that we didn't even notice until yesterday morning when the puddle reached the walk way in her room. What should we do? Clean or discard? I am afraid of mold, it is starting to smell. Thanks for your wisdom.
Thanks for your help again! We took it all out and actually found we have another slow leak on another wall that we may not have noticed. I really needed that encouragement to not try and be cheap on this one. LOL. Thanks a bunch.
Hi C., Sorry this happened. You could try a shop-vac to get the water out. I too would worry about mold. I live in an area where we flood and we just pull the rugs up and replace them. You also want the floor underneath to dry out. My best, Grandma Mary
Hi C.-
You should try calling Stanley Steemer. I had the same problem. I called them in and it worked.
Hope this helps-
K.
Rent a deihumidifier from home depot.
Get rid of the carpet! By now, I'm sure mold is growing. It's very difficult to save a carpet once it's wet, unless you catch the problem right away.
Replacing it is your best bet. Make sure the flooring below the carpet is completely dry and has not damage before you lay down a new one though.
Hi C.
I recommend pulling up the rug and the padding. 5 days wet is too long, if it smells that means bacteria is already brewing under there. It is very difficult to dry carpet and padding and you are already 5 days late getting started. You can get carpeting pretty cheap at Home Depot or maybe there is wood underneath which is better for allergies. My sister just put laminate down herself in her sons' room (allergies). It was very reasonable and super easy to clean and it looks like real wood. Good luck
Definately rip the carpet out.....if mold grows underneath it, you may not be able to see it, but it can make your daughter really sick.....it's not worth taking that chance!!
shop vac suck up all the water run fans to dry up
watch for mold smell if not rip up. padding might not dry
Since it's starting to smell already, you may have waited too long? Wouldn't your Home Owners Insurance pay for whatever needs to be done?...ours did. Our washing machine had completely overflowed, soaking partially into the wall-to-wall carpeting of the living room, and two bedrooms! This special company (can't think of their title) came to our house to cut-up and discard the soaked part of the carpeting, then for about 3 or 4 days there were about 4 of these huge loud blowers running 24 hours, aimed at the floor, bottom of walls, and woodwork, to completely get everything BONE DRY again, before ripping up/discarding the remaining carpeting. Then the brand new wall-to-wall carpeting was installed. It was a major project, but it only cost us the deductable portion of our Home Owners Insurance policy.
We had a flood in my basement. Carpet was new. We "shop vacuumed" up the water. I called the carpet store (a local individually owned one). They came over and "lifted" the carpet up. Shop-vacd again. They removed the padding underneath which is very absorbent. We let the carpet and floor dry out(huge fans running 24 hrs). When it was completely dry a few days later the store came back and replaced the padding and tacked down the carpet again. Carpet was cleaned. It all depends on how long everything has been wet for, what type of carpet etc. The padding is a real problem since it is thick and like a sponge. Nothing smelled, and everything was fine after that-and I have mold allergies. We also sometimes use this finished room as an extra bedroom. Call the carpet store ask advice, call around. However, if it has been wet too long and mold is already starting it is probably too late to save. ALSO there is a company called Pro-Serv. You can google them. They deal with fire/flood/mold. They are very good- everyone in my town used them a few years ago when there was major flooding. Contact them. Call your insurance to see if they'll cover anything (mine did not).
There is a machine called a dehumidifyer which you use for just this problem. If you live in an apartment, ask the superintendant--otherwise, you can probably rent one from somewhere.
