Tropical storm fay cause my rug to get wet?

Question

I survived tropical storm fay but now have 3 wet spots of rug...my sister said i need to pull the rug up to dry them spots but it's not pratical without replacing it all and i can't afford that..I have a box fan on the spots to dry the rug out..won't that work?

Answer 1

Rent a rug doctor or some type of cleaner to suck most of the moisture then use the box fan to dry the rest. It'll take too long and mold will develop the way you're doing it.

Answer 2

You can use towels to soak up all the water you can.

You might also consider turning on the heat. Heating air reduces humidity, dries things out. Warm air holds much more moisture.  Then turn on the A/C. Alternating between the two can drive the humidity down rather quickly speeding up the drying process. It will also reduce the humidity in the rest of the house.

Or if you have a space heater you might put one so that it heats the air the the box fan is blowing while running the a/c.  Then you have almost built a commercial type drying unit. Those units use a small heater too.  

The bigger problem is the pad under the rug. Those soak water up like a sponge and since they are covered by the rug they dry slower. The commercial cleanup people will pull up the carpet in one area and blow the air under the rug.

And something about washing the dirt in the carpet into the pad tends to make them smell even after drying out and I live where the humidity is low and mold is not much of an issue.

If your carpet is worth it and you really want to save it I would say the best is to pull the carpet, clean it, maybe treat it, and dry it out, like by putting it on plastic sheeting in the garage. Then replace the pad which is likely much less costly.

Part of the considerations depend on how much water got on the carpet.

Good Luck.

Answer 3

The key is to dry out the rug ASAP to avoid mold problems. If it's an area rug, remove it and air it out immediately. If you're talking about wall-to-wall carpeting, soak up as much moisture as you can with a wet/dry shop vac.  I would also lift up one edge of the carpet (disengage it from the tack stripping) and prop it up so you can use a fan to speed the drying. If you have to hire a carpet person to reconnect the carpet that will be hugely cheaper than replacing the whole thing if you don't dry it out right.

Here's some info on preventitive measures for the next flood:

http://www.thisoldhouse.com/toh/article/...

The link below will lead you additional flood cleanup information

Answer 4

In addition to the other suggestions, turn the air conditioner low (you may need to leave for awhile) since an ac is a dehumidifer it should help speed the process. I live in Ormond by the Sea and had some effects from Fay, nothing like the devastation in Breard County. Good luck

Answer 5

Get a wet and dry vac and suck up as much water as you can.  Then place the fan next to spots.

Answer 6

Not very fast. You need to get the spots dry quickly so that you don't have mold growing under your carpet, that can be detremental to your health! (My dad works in restoration.) Look in the yellow pages and find a restoration company. I don't think they usually cost a lot of money and if it's only a few wet spots, it won't take that long.