On 11/14/2016 11:01 PM, Harold Davis wrote:
The Natural Philosopher wrote in
news
On 14/11/16 17:53, Harold Davis wrote:
DerbyBorn wrote in
2.236:

Is it the sound deadening under the carpet that is also damp?

Thank you to everyone who has replied.

Yes, DerbyBorn. Sopping wet, I'd call it. After picking up the
carpet, I first thought what a nice rubbery layer underneath, that
water wouldn't penetrate. Today I pressed on it and water came out of
a hole in it. I have undone a securing bolt but it is very tight and
I have only been able to make a gap a few inches wide towards the
door. Its foam layer is soaking wet - yuck! I have jammed a hairdryer
in the gap, and also a metal bottle to hold it open other than with
the hairdryer itself and so that there is somewhere for the hot air
from the hairdryer to come out. I'm checking every so often that
nothing is getting too hot.

I am fairly sure (well, I hope) that the only moisture is in the
footwell itself. The lowest of the four walls to the footwell is
under the seat and it is at least 4 inches high. (The seats swivel.)
There must be some way to fix the problem if I don't manage to dry
all the foam with the hairdryer. If necessary, couldn't a garage cut
a square of the sound deadening out, dry it, and stick it back in
with duct tape? Even if I were to try to sell the car - which I won't
- the first thing that anyone is going to want to do is sort out the
foul smell. It's worth a few hundred pounds to me to fix.

Harry

1/. Many insurance firms simply write off cars that have been flooded
as the chances of contamination that would kill a snowflake
generati0n at 50 yards is very high.

2/. What you need to do is wash out all the crappy water and that
means getting everything even wetter. Toss a bucket if water with some
carpet shampoo in the footwell and scrub.

3/. Then using a wet and dry vacuum SHOULD essentially 'shampoo' the
carpet and underlay. These aren't too expensive to buy, and can be
hired.

4/. If the car is in use daily, full air-con, and full heat should
shove de-humidified hot air in, and that will dry stuff out in a few
trips. Otherwise set up a fan heater in the car with the windows
cracked and let it do its stuff.

5/. Any lingering pongs use 'febreze' on. It really does work. Doggy
smells, tobacco - gets them in the end though several applications are
usually needed.

Thanks for this. As regards the carpet, I've already scrubbed with carpet
shampoo and also with a sodium bicarbonate and vinegar mix and more or
less dried out with a fan heater. It doesn't pong so bad now. I'm hoping
that when it's totally dry vacuuming and Febreze will be enough. It's the
foam underlayer of the deadening that is the bigger problem. I am not
sure how to get to all of it - the deadening is still very tight, and I
have little experience in undoing things on cars. Also it doesn't seem as
though it would stand up to scrubbing if I poured a load more water under
there. Is it much different from the kind of carpet underlay that's made
from bonded bits of foam rubber? Wasn't familiar with wet and dry
vacuums, but am checking them out. They're basically hoovers that can
suck up both ordinary solid dirt and liquid through hoses, right? Thanks
again!

Harry

If you have the really thick moulded-t0-fit foam underlay you have to
take the seats, carpets, and underlay out completely to get everything
dried out. This is based on experience with Citroen CXs which have a
very thick moulded underlay that can get completely saturated. Mind you,
that was often necessary on the CX because the water would get in from a
rusty floor (or wheel arch), and the only hope of fixing that was either
to have a replacement welded in place or, if it was not too bad, to
"tank" the whole of the interior of the footwell with fibreglass. This
could buy you two or three years, by which time something else would
probably write the car off.