How To Dry Water Damaged Carpet

Mar 28, 2022 | Uncategorized

How do you dry water damaged carpet? Well, in Lincoln Nebraska it can get a little tricky.

WATER SOURCE

The first thing to consider when it comes to saving wet carpet is the water source. Clean water from a burst pipe, water heater or sink overflow, the odds are very good that it can be safely dried. “Gray” water (water that you wouldn’t drink) such as from a washing machine, sump pump malfunction or dishwasher discharge, you can usually save if you act fast and properly. IICRC defined “Black” water, water originating from a drain, sewage or high likelihood of containing gross contamination, you’re best off discarding. It’s just not worth the risk.

TIME

The amount of time the carpet has been wet also has a big impact on the ability to safely dry it out. All textiles like carpet have an organic load. You know, skin cells, pet dander, pollen, food particles, pet feces (from their little paws), mold spores, bacteria, etc. This organic cocktail of bio-material will degrade and microbes will amplify, making a potentially salvageable carpet turn into…trash!

CARPET PAD

Not all wet carpet pads can be dried. If it’s non-porous, or even low porosity, the pad may not be able to dry fast enough to avoid organic odor. Highly porous wet carpet pad is easy to save, if you have the proper water extraction equipment.

AGE & CONDITION OF CARPET

If your flooded carpet is old, extremely soiled or simply covered with significant personal property, you may want to consider simply removing it and starting over.

WATER DAMAGE DO-IT-YOURSELF ADVICE

My best advice is to call a trusted water damage professional. In Lincoln Nebraska, heck, DryHero Water & Mold comes to mind. But for the do-it-yourselfer, you’ll want to consider the following:

  1. Extract as much water as possible, then remove more! This may be the single most important factor for drying out your wet carpet because evaporation is less efficient that physical water removal.
  2. Removing the pad, although not always necessary, will make it easier to dry the carpet. Carpet pad replacement and re-stretch might be less expensive than carpet replacement.
  3. Rapidly moving, warm and extremely dry air is a must to dry water damaged carpet before it’s too late. I always tell my clients to estimate what they think they’ll need, and then double it because you really only have a limited amount of time before moisture generated odor permanently sets into your wet flooring.
  4. If you smell a foul odor, you likely still have wet carpet or pad…somewhere.