Soggy carpet help, please!!

[msmama]

Today, during Xmas part 2 and a house full of people, my son went down to the (finished but barely used) basement and came up saying that his socks were wet.

Upon further examination, the boiler had overflowed and one whole room in the carpet was pretty soggy. The boiler repair person came STAT and fixed it quite easily (and it was covered by my contract somehow).

That leaves me with a soggy basement carpet.

FIL suggested renting a shop vac, right now I have fans and a humidifier (that may or may not work) running. I've had other suggestions from pulling up carpet to "wait and see."

Personally, my thoughts are that I'd rather spend money now to have it fixed properly and hopefully avoid any issues that may arise from me trying to un-soggy the carpet on my own.

Any suggestions? Would something like Servepro do something this small? We've already had a mold scare in this room, so....a professional opinion would make me feel better.

I guess this question is less "budget" as in cheap and more "budget" as in I want things done correctly so I don't have to worry about it again.

 

[Shelly F - Ohio]

I would rent a carpet cleaner and suck as much water out. A carpet cleaner will have stronger sucking power than a shop vac. Then I would use portable heater to dry the carpet faster than a fan.

Yes Serve Pro will do this. Our neighbor had them come out last year to do their basement after Sandy hit. but you can do it your self.

If you can rent two carpet cleaners you can get the job done quickly.

 

[sookie]

You can shop vac or get a restoration service to do it. I might spring for the restoration service since it can be sucked into the dry wall if not done properly and right away.

 

[smokeyblue]

Everyone that I know that has used ServPro has been very happy. Otherwise Id get an extractor, fans and heat going.

Any chance this would be covered by homeowners? I know folks that have had their flooring replaced because of washing machines backing up.

 

[wekhogan]

I would call ServPro too. If you have wallboard, there's wood framing behind it. You can get mold behind the wallboard and in the wood and not see it. Best not to take chances with potential mold. Good luck.

 

[usnuzuloose]

We are a carpet cleaning bus, pull the pad other wise it will smell. Keep the fans going and crack a window. Have a professional come out and finish it off for you. They will reinstall your pad and put the carpet back in place. Just keep the air going and don't turn it off.

 

[NokOnHarts]

We have had some sort of water explosion 3 times in the past few months due to crazy circumstances, soaking carpet 2 times out of the 3. I tried for a whole day to get the water out, only to realize hours later it was soaking wet again. Finally pulled the carpet up and realized not only was the pad underneath soaking wet, the floor was wet under the pad. I fully agree with the above poster, you're gonna have to pull up the carpet, replace the padding and dry the floor underneath so you won't have to worry about mildew / mold and the smell. We have now gone to home depot twice, got new padding, and installed it after everything dried fully. Run fans constantly on the carpet and floor until they dry. This has worked for us both times and the carpet looks / smells fine from both instances, but it may depend on how badly it was soaked, and for how long it was sitting in water before you can determine if fans and replacing padding will fully fix it.

 

[tvguy]

Okay, stupid west coaster here not familiar with boilers. With water heaters placed inside a house (but not the garage) here, you have to have a drain so that if it leaks it doesn't flood the house. Do you have a drain? I sure would look at putting one in.
I would expect your homeowners to cover this, less your deductible, of course.

 

[APiratesLifeForMe2]

I work in insurance and I can tell you right now that regular residential shop vac and dehumidifier are only going to provide a temporary fix and in a few weeks you will smell mildew!

I would recommend calling a restoration company to give you a free estimate. The carpet pad may need to be replaced but carpet is almost always salvageable. You need the resources for the commercial grade extractors and dehumidifiers to dry out the space properly. It shouldn't be more than a couple hundred unless it damaged walls, doors or furniture.

 

[Good Morning Dewdrop]

we had a flood - dh was installing a new toilet and the thing (where you turn off the water to it - on the wall) broke off. Water everywhere. Turned the water off under the house. Got a plumber. Tore up the flooring (hardwood) hoping to dry it out ourselves and not go thru homeowners. Realized that more was wet than we knew (water had gone under the wall and into the hall under the wood - great!). Caved and went through insurance - it took DAYS with major blowers to dry out the floor / subfloor. Not fun but at least it was done right.

I'd take up the carpet and pad first thing so the floor itself can start drying and personally I'd call a professional company for an estimate.

 

[usnuzuloose]

Okay, stupid west coaster here not familiar with boilers. With water heaters placed inside a house (but not the garage) here, you have to have a drain so that if it leaks it doesn't flood the house. Do you have a drain? I sure would look at putting one in.
I would expect your homeowners to cover this, less your deductible, of course.

As doing carpets, sometimes it is rough dealing with the insurance. I can not tell you what a pain some of this stuff is. And some of them will raise your rates for it.

 

[usnuzuloose]

Remember if you are doing stuff your self, pull up the padding , throw fans in and crack windows if you can. Sometimes heat will create mildew smells. Get a shop vac to suck up the water. And you can buy the mildew cide at home depot. But some times it is better to buy from a carpet professional carpet place. Just some tips to help you save some costs. Carpets are not all the same, so make sure to find out about chemicals before use as it can damage them.

 

[usnuzuloose]

We have had some sort of water explosion 3 times in the past few months due to crazy circumstances, soaking carpet 2 times out of the 3. I tried for a whole day to get the water out, only to realize hours later it was soaking wet again. Finally pulled the carpet up and realized not only was the pad underneath soaking wet, the floor was wet under the pad. I fully agree with the above poster, you're gonna have to pull up the carpet, replace the padding and dry the floor underneath so you won't have to worry about mildew / mold and the smell. We have now gone to home depot twice, got new padding, and installed it after everything dried fully. Run fans constantly on the carpet and floor until they dry. This has worked for us both times and the carpet looks / smells fine from both instances, but it may depend on how badly it was soaked, and for how long it was sitting in water before you can determine if fans and replacing padding will fully fix it.

Most of the time we pull that section of pad up and replace it and still spray for any mildew smell that could come up later.

 

[Shelly F - Ohio]

I see Serve Pro arrived this morning at the house across the street. Last Saturday we had a lot of rain and earlier this week they threw out carpeting and furniture. They must have gotten flooded again. Whats worse is that it flood almost a week ago. Hate to think what damage and mold is growing.

I know when Sandy hit they waited a week before serve pro arrived yet the people next to them had some one out the same day.

I see two carpet cleaning machines and 10 blowers sitting in the drive way.

 

[eyor44]

You might want to get some DampRid also. This stuff actually works at pulling out moisture. My washer broke and flooded my laundry room, garage and my son's closet. I was amazed at the amount of moisture it pulled out of the closet after we used the shop vac and fans. Also, there isn't any smell.

 

[seashoreCM]

Depending on how much water got into the carpet, it is going to be slow drying it out as long as the carpet and padding remain flat on the floor.

In winter the drying will be more rapid if cold air is brought in, circulated (churned; agitated) against the wet floor for some time and getting heated in the meantime, then changed (expelled).

Cold winter outside air that is heated up when it is brought inside will absorb much more water compared with being simply circulated through cold. If the air in the room is quite turbulent, it will absorb water more quickly. But if the air stays in the room too long it will become saturated and stop absorbing water. It requires manual effort to open and close windows and adjust fans to change the air in the room at appropriate times.

A common reason for a boiler overflowing is the expansion tank filled with water. The expansion tank is supposed to provide an air cushion so the water in the boiler can expand and contract normally as the boiler cycles on and off. Have someone with the know how check the expansion tank and, if needed, empty out any water inside and, if applicable, set the internal pressure of the expansion tank using a bike tire pump or similar pump.

Without the proper air cushion in the expansion tank, the boiler expels water from its relief valve possibly onto the floor when things heat up and admits more water through an "autofill" valve when it cycles off and things cool down.

 

[Katy Belle]

We had a toilet flood once. A company brought in big, high powered , noisy fans, dehumidifiers, etc. We still ended up replacing carpet, baseboards, some shhetrock. Definitely call professionals.

 

[msmama]

Thanks so much for the advice.

I did call ServPro yesterday and so far, would highly recommend them. As someone told me, they are not cheap, but they are thorough. It's ending up costing me the same as my deductible would be, naturally. But they left a dehumidifier and 4 large fans that blow under they carpet. There was a bit of mold that they took care of, too.

Not something I was looking forward to during Xmas week and I always love the tax bill that shows up a few days before Xmas. It'll be a lean January, I guess.

 

[Shelly F - Ohio]

Well I certain hope the OP got her carpet dried out since it happened almost 2 months ago.

 

[msmama]

Not sure why this popped up today. OP here and the carpet did get dried.

I used serve pro but they only dry, they don't put anything back together or clean or anything.

I found out after the fact that Stanley Steemer will dry, clean and then put everything back the way it's supposed to be (including re padding). Sounded cheaper too. Hope maybe this info helps someone other the me in the future!