It is often very overwhelming when you stumble upon wet carpet, flooring, or flooding in your home. Here are a few tips / steps to help you spring into action quickly and hopefully prevent permanent damage.
- It’s always important to contact your insurance company and let them know the extent of the damage. Depending on what caused the water damage you may only be responsible for your insurance deductible.
- Clean and dry carpet as soon as possible. Remove all water from the carpet as soon as possible, starting with pooling water on the surface first. You can use a wet/dry vacuum to extract the water from your floor.
- Remove the padding underneath the wet carpet.
- Allow the floor underneath your carpet and padding to dry thoroughly by placing air movers, fans, and dehumidifiers in the area as well as opening all windows.
- After the floor dries completely, clean it with a mop and warm water mixed with cleaning solution.
- After it has completely dried, use a carpet cleaner to steam clean the water damaged carpet. Make sure you use a cleaning machine that is strong enough to suck all of the water out of the carpet.
- Once the carpet has dried, put the carpet back over the track strips and new padding. Continue to run the fans, air movers, and dehumidifiers.
Remember that Water Restoration Specialists, like Paul Davis Restoration, have the expertise and equipment to quickly get the job done and prevent the growth of mold / other harmful allergens. If your carpet hasn’t effectively dried within 72 hours it will begin to grow mold and may need to be evaluated by a professional.