How are Carpets Restored After a Flood
Most people would get upset when a cup or bowl of water spills on any part of their carpet, let alone when a raging flood sweeps water into their home and drenches every corner.
Dealing with the aftermath of a flood can be truly devastating– electronics damaged, paint affected, roof in disarray, items washed up, and of course, wet, slippery, quick-to-smell carpets.
While you could always attempt carpet restoration yourself, it’s usually a lot tougher and more daunting than it looks. Restorative companies exist to professionally carry out these jobs and ensure that your home is fully restored.
Assessing the water damage
A professional restoration team would start by assessing and determining the type of water that has flooded the carpet. Different types of water from a range of sources would require different cleaning equipment and methods. The three main categories include:
- Clean water: This is water that may have come in from a broken pipe or any other source of uncontaminated water. It’s usually the easiest to clean in the first 24-48 hours as long as it is not delaminated. Unfortunately, the majority of the time it is.
- Greywater: This is water that comes from contaminated or dirty sources such as toilet bowls, drainage canals, puddles, aquariums, etc. They require more expertise to clean up than the first category because they can irritate or harm the skin, cause bacteria to grow, and sometimes put off toxic fumes.
- Blackwater: This is extremely unhealthy water that comes from highly contaminated sources such as sewages, ponds, rivers, and any unsightly bodies of water. Blackwater flooding is the most severe and it is industry standard that the carpet has to be removed. Carpet from this type of water source can never be cleaned or restored.
Once the type of water is determined, the technicians would then assess the extent of water damage to the carpet such as rips by sharp objects, serious stains, and the levels of water pooling at corners and underneath.
Next, they’ll have to open up all the airways, in some cases rip the carpet out, and turn on fans to begin the dry out process.
Getting items out of the way
Just like the first time the carpet was laid, every item in the room would have to be removed for the cleaning process to start. This ensures that every surface of the carpet is cleaned properly.
If there were any furniture assembled in the room, such as the bed frame, they may have to be dismantled or worked around, depending on the technicians’ assessment of the damage.
Extracting most of the water
After removing items such as trash, leaves, and sharp objects from the floor, the next step is extracting most of the water as quickly as possible. This should be done with moving rollers, pressers, industrial-grade wet/dry vacuums, dehumidifiers, and other essential tools.
Cleaning the carpet and vacuuming/drying again
Most times, a carpet flooded by clean water would be usually be dried up straight from the extraction stage. Unless there are stains or dirt on the surface, the water is clean and shouldn’t cause any harm or smells.
If the carpet was flooded by greywater, it would have to be cleaned thoroughly with disinfectants and detergent before vacuuming to dryness. This is done to remove bacteria and other harmful microbes that may have come in with the water.
If it was flooded by blackwater, the process is always to remove the carpet. Per industry standard, the carpet cannot be salvaged if damaged by blackwater.
The carpet is then finally vacuumed until dry and left to air out.
Other restoration processes
The whole point of calling a restorative company is to have your home looking good as new. They’ll attempt to readjust, mend, prime up, and fix the carpet back into place if possible. Any parts that could not be salvaged would have to be removed and creatively replaced.
If you’re in the Marietta or Metro Atlanta area, call Integrity Restoration and Remodeling if you’re ever in need of carpet restoration services, among others.
With over 18 years of experience in the business, the company provides 24-hour emergency water cleanup services and can bring your home back to life.
Call +1 (770) 966-9987 or visit Integrity Restoration’s website for more inquiries about restoration and remodeling.