grodenhiATgmailDOTcom wrote:
We have a finished basement in out house (about 700sqft), that took on
water this weekend (the torrential rain in New England got us). Only
about 1/3 of the carpet was actually exposed to some water. It was
squishly and water would seep up when you walk on it (but never
submerged... if that helps.). It's a berber carpet if that matters.
Our clean up so far has been running a dehumidifier on high, 5 fans on
high, and a very strong wet/dry vac every few hours. We've got the
carpet to a point now where it's damp (feels like a carpet right after
a shampoo, not so much wet, as cool to the touch. No more squish what
so ever. Money is tight and we're really hoping to save the carpet.
Is there some kind of cleaner/solvent I can use to help prevent
mold/mildew? We're hoping to rent/borrow one of those carpet cleaning
systems and give the whole basement a once over oncde we deem the
carpet dry (or call Stanley Steamer or some place). Does this sound
doable to save us the expense of a rip/replace? Thanks for any help....

Pointing a portable heater (or more than one) to the wet area would
also help. Is the vac still catching water? I wouldn't stop vacuuming
until it sucks only air everywhere on the carpet. Can you aerate more
opening windows?

I wouldn't think of adding moisture of any kind (cleaners, solvents
etc..) until everything is bone dry.

I was able to dry out my carpet after a broken pipe flooded part of the
LR but was clean water on a much smaller surface. You have more than
200 sqft of carpet to dry out but it's still worth trying, IMO

Good luck