It is not a pleasant situation for anyone to have their home or place of business flooded but it does happen for various reasons.  The cause might be natural flooding, a burst water tank or a washing machine that decided to become blocked.  Depending on the severity or type of flood will determine what can be saved.  Most large house hold items are easily dried out by simply removing them from the flooded area and either placing them in a warm, dry location like outside or placing them in a large dry area and letting large fans dry them out but carpets are different, you cannot simply pick up your wall to wall carpeting and move it. So how to deal with flooded carpets is not as simple, however it can be done.

The most important thing when it comes to flooded carpet is the time factor.  From the moment that you carpet becomes flooded it will start to break down especially if it is made out of natural fibres.  Just like your compost pile, if it is dry nothing happens, as soon as it gets wet tiny microorganisms start breeding and start eating away.  In your compost pile it is you lawn clippings and leftovers they eat, in your carpet it is the fibres they eat.  If the carpets are not hand woven then the water can also start destroying the adhesive used to hold the fibres in place.

As soon as possible the majority of the water needs to be removed by the use of an industrial water extraction machine to prevent any bacteria growing. Once this is done the entire area needs to be sprayed with a chemical that will prevent the growth of bacteria that break down the carpet fibre.  It is very obvious when this starts to happen as your carpets start to smell.  It actually isn’t the water that smells, unless of course the flood is from a sewage source, but it is the growth of bacteria that creates the smell.

Once the carpets have been “vacuumed” of all excess water there will still be plenty of water left and this needs to be removed as quickly as possible as well. There are two ways to do this:

1. lift the entire carpet and underlay and take it outside to dry in the sun, which is practical if it is a very small room or large area rug but generally this is not a practical option.

2. Install dehumidifiers and fans. These need to be industrial type fans and dehumidifiers.  The carpets will be lifted in certain areas to let the equipment do their job but will remain in the room. The fans create circulation that will allow the dehumidifiers to extract the moisture from the air as well as actually drying the section of carpet they are blowing over or under.

As mentioned before if you act quickly you should be able to save your carpets if the flood is clean water but as soon as the bacteria starts doing their job properly it will be too late. Pure Dry has all the equipment on hand for emergency floods and qualified technicians that will quickly and effectively get your carpets back to normal.  Just give us a call and we’ll get someone out to help you ASAP.