4 Steps Towards Recovering Carpeting Following A Flood
Posted on: 6 July 2016
It isn't always necessary to rip out all of your carpet following a flood. If you have expensive carpeting you may want to recover it instead. Recovering has to be handled very carefully -- it's not just a matter of ensuring that your property is protected. When a flood recovery is handled incorrectly, it could lead to toxic mold and health issues.
Step 1: Professional Water Extraction
Even if you think your carpet is dry, it's most likely not. Both the carpet and its padding will get saturated with water. Home equipment and drying it out is not enough to get the moisture out. A professional extraction pump will be needed to remove as much of the water as possible. Standing water is extremely dangerous and serves as a home to many different types of bacteria.
Step 2: Disassembly
Once the professional water extraction has been completed, it's usually advised to lift up the carpet and dry it separately from the padding. This does mean that the carpet will need to be re-stretched and nailed down again, but this is very likely true regardless. When carpet becomes saturated, it often stretches; failing to re-stretch the carpet will likely lead to sagging, loose carpet.
Step 3: Disinfection and Drying
While disassembled, disinfection can be completed to ensure that nothing is growing on either the padding or the carpet. This is important for the carpet -- which has many fibrous areas in which mold, mildew, and bacteria can grow -- but it's especially important for the padding. Padding tends to be of a foam material that is very likely to soak in liquids.
Step 4: Mold and Air Testing
Once everything has been dry and reassembled, a conscientious homeowner may want to complete mold and air testing. This should be done both directly after and a few weeks after the initial incident. This will simply ensure that there is nothing growing within the room such as toxic mold. There are many types of mold and not all of them are harmful -- so air testing is necessary to determine whether or not an area could actually pose a health hazard.
A water damage restoration company is the best way to determine whether or not your carpet may be recoverable. If the flooding has lasted for longer than a few days, it may cost less costly overall to simply replace the carpet. If the carpet is taken care of immediately after a flood, however, it can often be saved. For more information, contact companies like Spotless Carpet Cleaners & Janitorial Services Inc.
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