Carpet Diem

Much like onions, carpets have layers. Unfortunately, water can separate those layers in short order, rendering your carpet delaminated. This happens because when a carpet gets wet and remains that way, the adhesive holding the layers together is weakened by the water. This causes the carpet to lose strength, thereby making it much more prone to damage. Water extraction is the most important first step because it removes most of the water from the carpet. Extraction is usually performed by using various tools such as a carpet wand, water claw, or even an industrial-grade wet/dry vacuum. While you can use some of these tools yourself, it is best to seek assistance from the professionals. However, here’s what you can do to minimize the damage and make water extraction as fast and easy as possible:

• Eliminate the source of the water (obviously).
• Turn off circuit breakers in affected rooms, if it is safe to do so.
• Avoid walking on the carpet as much as possible.
• Move furniture and as many other items as you can into a dry room.
• Try soaking up some of the water with towels (try to avoid non-colored towels, as you may risk dyes bleeding into the carpet).
• Do not turn on electronic devices; let them “air out” as much as possible.
• Open windows and doors to ventilate the area.
• Call your insurance company to report the loss.
• Take pictures and notes to document the damage.

After extraction, there’s usually some remaining water, which can be removed via evaporation. This is done using high-powered air movers or fans. Rocky Mountain Restoration has all of these tools and excellent technicians to use them as effectively as possible, so call us in the event of water damage.