To make sure your wet carpet is dried properly you should always use a professional and certified water damaged restoration company. A professional organisation will follow the IICRC approved processes ensuring your carpet is dried in the most efficient manner.
Things you should not do if you have water damaged, wet carpet;
- Do not use towels alone to suck up excess water from your carpet. Laying down towels and stepping on them will help but if you have water saturated carpet it is not sufficient to extract all water from your carpet, carpet underlay and the subfloor below the underlay.
- Do not use a home vacuum cleaner to suck up water from your carpet. Home vacuum cleaners are not made to hold water. If you try to extract water from your carpet with a regular vacuum cleaner you will ruin it and it is highly likely you will be electrocuted.
- Do not use hair dryers as they are not powerful enough to dry your wet carpet, wet underlay and wet subfloor.
- Do not use heaters to try and dry your wet carpet as you may end up shrinking your carpet or may cause a surface to overheat and catch on fire. Heat is not considered safe in carpet drying processes.
- Do not assume that if carpet that was saturated in water appears dry on the surface it is actually dry and that the carpet underlay and floor beneath are also dry. It probably won’t be. If you do not dry timber or yellow tongue under your carpet properly it is highly likely that these surfaces will buckle and move to result in an unstable surface that will most likely start to the creek over time. If these surfaces are left wet they are likely to result in mould growth which may or may not be visible to you. Mould is dangerous and a health risk to you and your family.
- Do not assume that wet carpet will not cause damage to your skirting boards and walls. If water damaged the carpet is not attended to quickly water will be sucked up the wall and cause secondary water damage to plaster, skirting and even internal wall framing.
- Do not assume that water from your water damaged carpets will not get into electrical places it shouldn’t making your home a dangerous place.
- Do not assume that the smell of heavily water damaged carpet will disappear with time. The smell will get worse with time.
- Do not assume that mould will not be a problem in your home if your carpet has been water damaged and have tried to dry it yourself without professional help. If your carpet, underlay, subfloor and other wet surfaces in your home are not dried properly mould will grow. If in the drying process a dehumidifier is not used to suck up the moisture released you are more likely to have future issues of mould damage.
- Do not assume that all water is the same and will damage your carpet in the same way. There is clean water, grey water and black water and each must be treated differently as it will damage your carpet in different ways. For instance, sewage water will require your carpet to be removed and replaced and subfloor treated to avoid health issues. Clean water from a running tap is less of a health risk and professional drying processes are likely to be sufficient to save your carpet.
To dry your water damaged carpet properly you should engage a professional water damage restoration organisation like Capital Facility Services. We are IICRC certified and use the latest equipment and techniques to dry your wet carpet, measure and monitor the drying process and to remove moisture so that you do not have future issues of mould.
Ideally, the drying processes should start within 24hours of the water damage occurring. At Capital Facility Services we are available 24/7 across Melbourne and aim to attend to all emergency water damaged sites within 1 hour. Call us on 1300 554 418 if you have water damage issues.
