Picking up the Pieces

Out of all the types of flooring to have flooded, carpeting is perhaps the most difficult. Wet carpeting likes to hold on to its moisture, and if it's not properly dried out, the carpeting can become damaged or moldy. Luckily, if your flooding was with clean water, you may be able to dry your carpeting out yourself.

Determine Whether Water Is Clean

If the water you're cleaning up is clean water, then you may be able to clean it up yourself. Clean water flooding comes from sources like overflowing taps, broken water supply lines, and snow and rain. Since this water has no or minimal contamination, it's not considered a health risk.

If the water has been sitting for more than 48 hours or comes from a potentially contaminated source such as a discharge line or rising floodwaters, the water is a health risk as it may contain dangerous microbes. This type of water should only be cleaned by a professional; everything the water came in contact with will need to be cleaned and disinfected as well as being dried out.

Remove Water With Wet/Dry Vacuum

The first thing to do with clean-water flooding is, of course, to remove any standing water. The sooner you can do this, the better the chances that you can keep your carpeting. You'll need to remove all furniture from the room and then vacuum up the water with a wet/dry vacuum. If you don't have this type of vacuum, you can rent one from a home improvement store or water remediation company.

Dry Out Carpet With High-Power Drying Fan

With the furniture out of the room, the next step is to dry out the carpeting. The most effective tools for this are high-powered fans made specifically for drying out surfaces. Set one or two fans at the edge of the carpeting and run them overnight. If you have a dehumidifier, running it alongside the fans can also help.

In the morning, check to see whether the carpet feels dry. If it does, keep the fans running for one more day to ensure that any moisture that wicks up from inside the carpeting is dried out. Then you can return the furniture to the room; however, even for clean-water flooding, you may want to have your carpet steam-cleaned to ensure no contamination remains.

If Your Carpeting Won't Dry Out

If the carpeting doesn't dry out using these steps, you should call a water remediation company. Lingering moisture within carpeting can lead to hazardous mold growth, so it's crucial that the carpeting is either professionally dried or replaced.

To learn more, contact a company like Sparklean DKI Janitorial.