Water Damage Restoration

Coming home to discover a washing machine stuck on fill. A hose has come adrift or even a plug left in a sink. It can be quite disheartening to discover expensive carpet and furnishings to be inundated with water. However this situation can be remedied with prompt attention and the right know-how. Water damage restoration of carpet and soft furnishings is only a phone call away.

Getting the water out

Prompt attention is very important. This can make quite a difference to whether a carpet is salvageable or not. There are also some other factors that influence how a carpet responds to treatment.

How old is the carpet?
What condition is it in?
How wet is it?
How long will it take to dry?

If some or all of these factors are in your favour, a satisfactory result is really quite achievable. And hopefully with a minimum of disruption.

Assessment

The Removal of furniture from effected areas is of course a given. This step is the first that needs to be undertaken. However keep in mind some wooden furniture may still stain another area if moved there. Minimising damage is not only required for the carpet but for other furnishings that may be affected. Another important step is assessing the carpet underlay. Simply extracting the water and not understanding the amount of water that may be under the carpet could lead to some unforeseen drying issues. Different underlays react differently after water ingress. The old style Felt Underlay was incredibly absorbent. Normally it would need to be replaced once wet. In comparison, Rubber Underlay will often dry very quickly with assisted drying. Foam style underlay with a plastic lining will often not let water out. Therefore it will need to be lifted to dry.

Old style Felt Underlay

Rubber Underlay

Foam underlay

If there is no underlay the carpet will tend to dry much quicker. This carpet below was glued directly to the concrete.

Simply extracting the water then using air movers will see a good result for this. With good ventilation this carpet was dry in under 24 hours.

Extraction and water damage restoration

Following assessment and furniture removal, extracting the water is the next step. Using Powerful Truck-Mounted machinery makes this job much easier. After extraction, lifting a carpet may be required. This will depend on the type of underlay. Then installation of Caper driers/ Air Movers as needed. Finally an anti-microbial treatment needs to be applied.

Relaying and professional cleaning will normally be the final step. Completion of this will be stage will occur after drying of sub-floor as well. Concrete may take a few days to dry completely. Hardwood floors will dry quicker due to air movement above and below. Most carpets will not shrink these days due to their construction.

Odours may be present during drying. Bacteria can breed quite quickly in damp carpet. All this needs is a little moisture and a little heat. Anti-Microbial treatments can help. It is very rare for any odour to be present after the completion of cleaning if the carpet is in reasonable condition. Of course the quicker the carpet is able to be dried, the less chance of an odour developing.

Some further thoughts for you

Air circulation is very important, windows and doors open to remove moisture.
Removing excess furniture will aid drying.
Safety is important, shoes should be worn and special note of slippage on hard floors.
Heat will not aid in drying. A temperature of around 22 degrees is ideal.
Your air-conditioner should be set to cool/dry and 22 degrees.
Minimising traffic in the area is important.

Sometimes the wet carpet will not be noticed because of furniture. This carpet below had some small cubes sitting on the carpet. As can be seen the furniture had started to stain the carpet. Luckily this was discovered before permanent damage had occurred. Also being a nylon carpet helped here. Removing mould stains from Nylon carpet is much easier than from Wool carpet

Finally, your prompt attention to a water damaged carpet is the key. Water damage restoration carried out promptly really helps with the saving the carpet.

Body Corporate and Common Area water damaged carpet is also a specialty.