My Carpet was Soaked due to a Flood, What are my Options?

The worst thing that any homeowner can experience is a flood in which their carpet gets soaked from flooding.  There is no magic formula for cleaning a wet carpet.  Each carpet is different and each situation is different.  There are three various types of flooding situations which are black flooding, sanitary flooding and unsanitary flooding.  Each one is dealt with differently.

Sanitary flooding needs to be treated with a disinfectant and then follow that by soaking up the water.  There are times when a carpet needs to be replaced in the event of flooding but this is not the case with sanitary flooding.  With just a few simple steps, you can save your wet carpet and return it to normal.  The first thing you want to do is to keep people and pets off the carpet while it is still wet.  You will need to locate the source of the leak and if it is a plumbing issue, you need to immediately cut off the water supply.  You may have to puncture holes in the walls to release any water that may be in between the walls.  You need to find the source of the problem before you can begin to correct the issue.  You want to be sure to remove any furniture from the carpet or you run the risk of staining or damaging the carpet even further. Then leave the rest of the work to the experts.

Unsanitary flooding may or may not have to be removed.  If the water that has caused the flooding contains containments, the water may be unsanitary.  Examples of this would be a toilet overflowing, a dishwasher leaking, and leaking waterbeds.  If this is the case, the carpet should be removed and thrown out because of contamination and concerns with bacteria.  Be sure when you are dealing with this type of carpet, that you wear gloves and goggles.

Black water is described as water that basically contains raw sewage.  This is without a doubt unhealthy and unsanitary.  Black water can also be sea water or any water that has been in contact with the ground.  Black water has many health concerns.  If this type of water is the cause of the flooding, all persons and pets need to be evacuated from the building for their own concern.  Professionals need to be called in to get the flooring back to the way it was before the flood.

No matter what type of flooding caused the wet carpet, most of the manufacturers will void an existing warranty which you may already have in existence when the flooding occurred.

Flooding is a nightmare no matter what type of flooding caused it.  Some types of flooding can easily be taken care of but when it starts to cause public health concerns, the carpeting needs to be removed and replaced.

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