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Flooded Wall-to-Wall Carpet
Posted by Linda Merrill
Nov 04, 2009
If you've ever let your bathtub overflow or had a groundwater problem that resulted in flooding and wet carpets, you know you have quite a mess on your hands. The first thing you need to do is pull up the carpet and throw away the underlying carpet pad. Using a wet vac and strong fans, dry out the floor and surrounding walls (it may be necessary to remove baseboard moldings as well). Your carpet may be saved if you're very careful when removing it from the carpet tack strips and are careful about drying it out completely. A wool carpet will take considerably longer to dry than a nylon carpet. Once completely dry, clean the carpet with both vinegar (to reduce mold) and carpet cleaner and determine if it can be re-installed with a new carpet pad. If, however, the carpet develops mold, or it was torn or stained, then it will need to be replaced. But first, make sure you've fixed the underlying reason why you had flooding to begin with!
