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....


We had a minor flood when washer hose broke, and got about half of our
dining room oriental rug saturated. No pad. Rented heavy duty wet vac
which, when used on bare terazzo floor, left the vacuumed portion DRY.
Got all we could out of the rug, then propped that side of the rug over
stuff to hold it off floor, ran the fan and it was dry within 24 hours.
I haven't dealt with your situation, but would consider pro shampoo
with anti-mildew, if they have it. A reliable pro should have likely
dealt with the situation. For sure, keep dehumidifier on and use the
most powerful wet vac that you can; should extract down to the base
flooring. I've gotten padding wet in shampooing carpet and the sky
didn't fall in )