4 Mistakes Homeowners Make When Dealing With Wet Carpet

11/24/2020 (Permalink)

Wet carpet in Woburn, MA

4 Mistakes Homeowners Make When Dealing With Wet Carpet

Water from a pipe break or leaky roof can flood your home and soak your floors and carpeting. Only professional restoration specialists have the equipment and training to completely remove mold and moisture from your floors. Call the professionals right away and avoid these common mistakes homeowners make when dealing with wet carpeting.

1. They Don’t Pull Up the Carpet and Padding
A shop vacuum can extract some moisture from wet carpeting, but it’s not strong enough to pull all moisture from the underlying layers, and moisture and mold can remain in the padding and subfloor. Restoration crews remove carpeting and padding and ensure that the subfloor is thoroughly dried out and disinfected.

2. They Rely On Homemade Solutions or Household Cleaners
Household carpet cleaners and homemade vinegar or baking soda solutions are fine for an occasional spill, but they aren’t sufficient when the entire floor has been wet. Likewise, household deodorizers tend to mask odors rather than eliminating them and aren’t effective for a flood situation. Professional cleanup crews use commercial-grade biocides to eradicate mold.

3. They Don’t Replace the Padding
Carpet padding that has been wet, even from clean water such as a pipe break, should always be replaced. It’s nearly impossible, even for professionals, to extract all moisture and mold from padding. Even if it seems dry, putting this padding back down will lead to a mold problem later.

4. They Vacuum Damp Carpeting
Your home vacuum cleaner isn’t strong enough to remove all moisture and mold spores from carpeting. Using a vacuum on damp carpeting can push dirt and mold further down into the fibers and also results in moisture inside the vacuum. This can lead to mildew and mold growth inside your vacuum cleaner, and this mold can spread to your carpeting each subsequent time you vacuum.
Don’t attempt to restore wet carpeting yourself. Calling a Woburn, MA, restoration company as soon as possible after a pipe break or other flooding event is your best bet for salvaging your carpeting and other belongings.