Imagine you’re in bed thinking what a great place it is given that there’s a raging storm outside, only to wake up and realise that it’s actually raining ‘inside the house’. Yep, it’s leaking through your ceiling right onto your nice clean carpet?
Alternatively you’ve come home from a romantic meal with your wife/partner/girlfriend to find that a pipe has burst all over your living room floor. Either way, it’s not looking too good for your flooded carpet. So what should you do?
First thing is not to panic, but don’t delay either. The longer your carpet stays wet, the more likely it’s going to suffer long-term damage such as mould. However before you do anything with your carpet you’ve got to stop the source of the water. If it’s a leaking pipe then turn the water off at the stop valve until the pipe can be fixed. If it’s a leaking ceiling, then do whatever you can to patch it up (although this is probably easier said than done).
Remove furniture and objects
Okay, next job is to remove any objects or furniture from the wet area. This goes for curtains that are touching the floor as well as any upholstery. Put your furniture and belongings in a dry place well away from the carpet. Also remove any electronics or unplug any equipment near the wet area.
Prepare the carpet ready for removal
Generally a carpet consists of two backs that are sandwiched together with strong carpet glue. If the glue becomes wet the two carpet backs can easily be peeled apart like a ripe banana. If this is the case then you’ll see areas of bubbling which is major evidence that your carpet has come apart from the backing and is indeed wet. In a worse case scenario the tufts of your carpet can simply be pulled out because there’s nothing there to hold them in place. Therefore if you have a wet carpet you’ll need to get it ready for removal while you call the professionals. Get yourself a pair of plyers and some work gloves and gently prize it away from the carpet tacking.
A word of advice…..
If your carpet is thoroughly wet then don’t attempt to dry it yourself! Professional carpet cleaning services have powerful equipment that can suck the moisture out of most carpets. You aren’t going to do be able to do this with your average carpet cleaner you bought from the store. Remember if you don’t get all the moisture out, then not only is your carpet going to stink, it’s also going to become a breeding ground for mould. Depending upon the company you use and the degree of water, they may also need to install powerful fans to dry the entire area out, before the carpet and furniture go back into the room.
Here at Carpet Cleaning Kings We offer a 24 hour emergency flood water extraction service should you need us. With decades of experience in the industry, we’re the people you can trust in your time of need. If you have a flood water emergency, contact us any time of the day or night on 1300 7000 75 and we’ll come running!
