Carpet Cleaning Water Damage

This article explains how to clean, save and restore the water damaged carpet.

Prepare the Carpet for Cleaning

Using a thin screwdriver or an awl, pick up a corner of the carpet. If you have a tack trip, be very very careful! It's quite easy to prick yourself on the sharp and often rusty nails.

If You Don't Have a Tack Strip:
The water damaged carpet is glued down. This means that you don't have padding.

If You DO Have a Tack Strip:
Tack strips usually mean you have padding. Any padding that's affected needs to be yanked out.

Padding:

Padding will always have to be entirely trashed. Don't even think of saving it - it will get moldy.

Treatment & Cleaning of the Carpet:

Using either a pump-up sprayer or a household sprayer, spray the back of the carpet. Once again, I highly recommend using a pump up sprayer with a large tank, or at least two to three coats of both your deodorizer and disinfectant. If you are using a hand held trigger sprayer or aerosol, make sure to put down 2-3 coats! This will unsure the backside of your carpet cleaning water damage is done for good.

For the top of the carpet, you must clean it with both deodorizer and sanitizer. A carpet cleaning machine from your hardware store will do the trick. Move furniture and other items around so that you successfully clean every square inch of the carpet. Don't cheat around ANY furniture! Since you have already extracted your carpet with a wet/dry vacuum and cleaned it, the carpet should no longer be very wet. If it still is, you must extract and/or clean it further.

That concludes the carpet cleaning water damage associated with your water damage issue.

Water Damage Clean-Up

Water Damage Clean Up and Restoration

Dealing with water damage can be a traumatic experience. You feel a loss of control in your own home! The feeling only gets worse if you have a company come in and rip apart your walls, carpet, furniture, and rummage through your personal items! After dealing with all this aggravation and more, you get "rewarded" with a bill for $1,000's!

This does not have to be your experience with water damage.

You already have the ability to clean up your own water damage, you just need the know-how! Below is a step-by-step skeleton of what the actions you should take in remediating your own water damage.

Turn Off All Electricity- Turn your power main to the off position so you don't get electrically shocked. Never step in standing water without the power off!

Identify the Type of Water- You must determine if your water is considered "clean" or "dirty." Clean water comes from sources such as a failed sump pump or leaky dishwasher. Dirty water comes from sources like broken ejector pumps and cracked sewage lines.

Equipment and Materials- You will need water damage equipment such as a wet/dry vacuum, carpet cleaning machine, deodorizers, disinfectants, and body protection such as puncture proof gloves.

Remove the Water- Use either a submersible pump or wet/dry vacuum to remove the excess water.

Treat Your Carpet and/or Other Flooring- You must properly clean, disinfect, and deodorize the carpet.

Discard the Padding- Remove and trash all the padding under the carpet.

Treat Walls and Baseboards- Remove the baseboards and create air cavities in the walls. Properly disinfect and store the baseboards.

Ensure Your Furniture is Safe- Check for structural damage and if water affected absorbent areas.

Drying Equipment- You will need to use air movers, fans, and dehumidifiers after you finish the demolition and restoration process. These pieces of equipment will allow your home to dry properly.

Deal with Insurance Companies- After you remediate your water damage, you will have to deal with your insurance company and make sure the insurance company pays you the money you deserve!

Waiting even several hours to treat your water damage properly will lead to extensive mold growth and irreversible damage! For an in-depth step-by-step guide to everything mentioned above and more, visit click here.