SOAKED carpet

[Brisketexan]

My daughter's aquarium sprung a leak yesterday. 20+ gallons of water soaked into the carpet. I managed to save the fish, and am working on fixing the aquarium situation, but WHAT CAN I DO TO DRY OUT AND CLEAN MY CARPET?

I used towels to soak up the obvious surface water (it wasn't standing -- it's all soaked in). It doesn't appear to have crept up the walls or anything like that, so that seems good.

But how can I dry out my carpet, and what do I need to treat it with to retard rotting, mold, mildew, smells, etc.?

 

[tropheus]

Interesting...

get some big *** fans and open all the windows and blow that sucker dry.

Someone else may have advice on the mold/mildew issue, but if it dries out fast enough, you shouldn't have a problem.

Later you may want to get it professionally steam cleaned.

 

[NickDanger]

fans

You can rent them if you need to. If it is Incredibly soaked you might want to pull up the carpet and replace some padding.

 

[Mrmyke709]

Get the carpet cleaner from HEB. It will pull most of that water out.
Trust me, I know from experience.
And fans.

 

[NickDanger]

That's a good idea.

 

[Brisketexan]

My very gay, very helpful and friendly, and very tool-obsessed neighbor has both a wet-dry vac and a carpet cleaner. I talked to him, and I think we're going to try both tonight.

HOPEFULLY, we won't have to pull up and replace padding because OY that would be a pain in the ***.

I figure once we suck up all the water that we can, then we'll open the windows to her room, crank the fans, and let that work for a day or so.

What sort of treatment should I put on the carpet to retard mold, mildew, smell, etc.?

And of course, for now, our fish are living in an orange home depot bucket on the bathroom counter with a jury-rigged pump. I'm pretty sure they cursed my name this morning.

 

[Mrmyke709]

A conventional home carpet cleaner may not have the suction power.
Those HEB units pulled up gallons from my floors.
We had plumbing "issues" that fortunately have been resolved with some timely advice by the esteemed Nick Danger.
I still owe you a brewski or two-ski for that, Counselor.

 

[Hayden_Horn]

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[washparkhorn]

Don't open the windows - crank your air conditioner up and let it dry out the air. You need to remove humidity quickly so the mildew and rot doesn't set in. Hot muggy Texas weather will do little to help, so use your central air system. I would also rent some of those fans designed for drying carpent. They are shaped like a nautilus, with a 6 inch wide nozzle on the bottom at floor level.

Also, if you do not have central air, rent a "dehumidifier" - which is basically a mobile air conditioner that will drain the excess water through a tube out the window.

Good luck. If the pad is really soaked, you should probably just pull up the carpet and replace it. Someone will need to restretch the carpet, but you won't have the smell of rot permeating every crevice of the house.

Dehumidifier for rent:The Link

carpet drying fans for rent:The Link

 

[tropheus]

I was assuming you live in Austin -- the humidity right now is below 50% -- so the heat from outside should actually help.

 

[washparkhorn]

Troph - I guess I was assuming he lived in the bogs of Houston or the Heat Misery Capital - Dallas. I forgot how pleasant the summers are in Austin, compared to Houston or Dallas. 50% humidity isn't bad for late May in Texas (sans West Texas and the Panhandle).

 

[goofybevo]

Do you have a Picasso Triggerfish? Those things beat ***.

 

[Mrs. Reboot]

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