Unattended wet carpet is prone to mold and mildew.
Can wet carpet padding be saved.
When you leave moisture sitting in a warm dark place these toxins will invade your home and once moisture and mold permeate a carpet pad it s impossible to eradicate.
The good news is wet carpet can often be saved depending on mitigating factors like the age and quality of the carpet and by following correct procedures during the restoration process.
Use a pair of pliers to remove the carpet over the area of the carpet padding.
While the carpet is drying check the condition of the wall insulation.
The environmental protection agency advises us that it is necessary to act immediately when your carpet gets wet.
Saving a carpet damaged by category 1 water is possible if the carpet has been wet for less than 24 48 hours.
Disinfectants can interrupt nascent mold growth before it becomes established.
Otherwise the water may degrade into category 2.
Professionals can restore both padding and carpet through proper sanitation and remediation procedures.
Steam clean carpet and flooring steam clean all carpets to properly sanitize and deodorize.
Mold is incredibly toxic to humans and pets.
The best way to determine if your wet carpet can be salvaged is examining the factors involved.
Make sure you suck as much water from the padding as you can by use of the wet dry vacuum.
If the issue is addressed in a timely manner and professional techniques are applied most carpet affected by clean water can be saved.
The first order of business is get to work fast.
If you don t have insulation and you dry out the basement quickly you don t have to replace the drywall.
Today s powerful water extractors can even pull water out of the carpet and the padding below without removal of either.
Replacing just the padding is much less expensive than having to re carpet your entire home.
To absorb moisture and odor you can sprinkle some baking soda on the carpet padding.
You can achieve this by use of an air conditioner.
Snap a chalk line cut the drywall with a recip saw and toss the wet stuff.
Drying your carpet padding isn t a complicated procedure but it will take time to adequately accomplish.
If your carpet padding has been wet for more than 24 hours there s a really good chance your padding is already infected with mold and it might not be safely salvageable.
So the quicker you get started on this the better.
Typically water damaged carpet padding must be replaced.
But if the insulation is wet it s gotta go wet insulation cannot be saved.
Once carpet water damage mold has taken hold there s often no cleaning it up.
Additionally if the carpet has been wet for more than 48 hours the floor and padding beneath the carpet probably have mold as well.
