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Home and Garden > Emergency > Flood on May 17, 2007

Drying Out Flooded Carpet

I have flood damage to my carpeted floor and need advice. I fell asleep while running a bath and the tub ran over for about an hour, the carpeted floor ended up being flooded by almost 2 inches. I have been vacuuming and running both a heater and 2 fans on the floor but it is still somewhat wet, my guess would be from the padding, the floor underneath is particle board. Should I pull up all the carpet and padding or should I just keep doing what I am doing to try and dry the floor? Any advice would be awesome. This is a complete emergency for me. Thanks in advance for your advice and helpful hints.

Igmommy from TN

By Igmommy

Answers: Drying Out Flooded Carpet

Read answers for this question below.
By Igmommy (Guest Post) 05/19/2007

All of these answers are great, thank you to you to the ladies and gents for helping me with this huge problem. i ended up following most of the advice but in the end, i had to turn it in to my homeowners insurance. thanks alot though and have a wonderful weekend

By Dv2061 (Guest Post) 05/18/2007

As was said you have to pull everything up. Your particle board will be shot as it expands and separates when wet

By Syd (Guest Post) 05/18/2007

If you have ... a shop vac or rug shampoo machine, they will help to extract water. You still need to run fans to help dry things out.

It is amazing how much water can be extracted ... over and over. Can you tell I had a water problem once?

By
05/17/2007

I had a water heater burst in an old apartment. The landlord called Servepro and they fixed everything. I have no idea how much it cost, but they did a great job. Personally, I'd be willing to hire the job out because I'd be terrified of really screwing up and having to deal with the resulting mold...

By megan (Guest Post) 05/17/2007

i used to do this daily!!! (as a job) the first thing you HAVE to do is pull the carpet up. you have to get rid of the wet pad or it will never dry. be careful of the tack strip!!! pets and children can get hurt. once you remove the pad you should place the fans under & pull the carpet snug,as to dry the backing & not ruin the edges with the tack strip! i would highly suggest finding a dehumidifier place it in the bathroom (hose in sink) shut the doors! don't forget to check the walls for dampness!! you don't want mold!

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