What You Need to Know about Repairing Water Damaged Carpets

If your Florida home or business recently experienced flooding that left you with water damaged carpets, you might want to hire a water restoration company to handle the repairs for you. Not only will it be faster but it will also be less stressful. Experienced professionals have the training needed to efficiently and successfully repair your carpeting to like-new condition. However, if you want to tackle the job on your own, follow these steps.

Determine the Source of Water

It is essential that you discover where the water is coming from before you begin the process of extracting it. For example, if your pipes have burst, you’ll need to turn off the water valve to stop the flooding. On the other hand, if heavy rains are causing the flooding, you might want to consider using sand bags to block it from entering your home.

Eliminate the Water

Depending on the amount of water you need to remove, you can use one or more of the following pieces of equipment:

• Upright wet vac/steam cleaner
• Cylinder-shaped wet vac
• Portable sump pump
• Installed sump pump
• Mops and rags

Dry the Wet Carpets

The fastest way to dry your carpets is to eliminate as much moisture from the area as possible. Not only do you want to remove water from the carpets, but you’ll also want to remove excess moisture from the air. Circulating the air in the affected area accomplishes both of these tasks. Use these strategies to help dry the air as well as the carpets:

• Open each of the windows on that level of the home
• Turn on ceiling in each room on that level of the home
• Borrow or purchase standing fans to help circulate the air
• Use your dehumidifier, if you have one, to remove moisture from the area

Steam Clean the Carpeting

Since flood waters bring in dirt and bacteria with them, it’s important to take the time to steam clean your carpets. Doing so will remove most of the dirt and bacteria that have gotten into the carpet fibers. If your rugs are dirty, you’ll probably want to hire professional carpet cleaners to assist you in this task.