Community Chat

[bonnielu]

We made national news.  Lots of flooding in our area...... extreme.  We were away.  Our neighbor had our key and using a fan dried out a small area in our basement that was wet.  Carpet is now dry.  

Question:  Called insurance and they are willing to cover taking up old carpet and puting in new one.  I WANT JUST TO HAVE MY CARPET CLEANED INSTEAD.  

AM I MAKING A MISTAKE.  Minor wetness and seem perfect now. I am wondering if I am still susceptible to mold.  

[SilleeMee]

Yes and yes.

[maestra]

@bonnielu  We live in Hurricane Alley and the big issue is MOLD!!! Once it gets into carpeting it can and will spread; very unhealthful.

I'd get that stuff out ASAP and have a flood restoration process done at least in the basement paid for by insurance.

[bikerbabe]

Yes. You are at risk for mold. Replace it, especially since they’ve already said they will cover it. It could get very expensive if you don’t and at that point you may have a fight with the insurance because you didn’t agree to replace the carpet to begin with.

[OKPrincess]

I would probably replace it because you don’t know what’s in the water. Is there a possibility of raw sewage? I’ve never been flooded but that would be a big concern. Sorry you’re going through lots of rain and flooding but so many too. Be careful.

[GCR18]

Definitely have the carpet and padding replaced.  When they remove the carpet, check that the floor is dry before they put down the new.  It's what you can't see that's the problem.  If the wall has drywall, check the drywall near the floor.  We had a major flood at work years ago and it ended up being a nightmare.

[riley1]

Yes. Take out the carpet and padding. Also, depending on how much water there was, you might want to remove a piece of the moulding and check the dry wall around the floor.

[Scooby Doo]

Yes, replace it.  My basement had a flood at one time.  The back of the carpet looked really nasty when they pulled it up, although the top looked sort of ok. 

[patbz]

I once had a flood (broken pipe) within days of putting in New carpeting.  USAA pulled up carpeting, cleaned it, dried it and reinstalled it.  I have had two other floors (one frozen pipe) another in a fifth wheel that was flooded and not taken care of immediately (we weren't on-site when that happened).  In latter two cases there was major damage amounting to many thousands of dollars (fifth wheel was totalled, house was $35,000 damage).  I lived in Mojave desert when these incidents occurred so, long story made short, yes, occasionally flooded carpet can be rescued but it depends...

[Kitlynn]

There are a lot of hidden things that can pop up later even though the carpet appears to be dry. It is much better to have the carpet and pad replaced and also be sure to have the floor really cleaned for mold before the new stuff goes down. It might seem like a hassle at first but in the long run you will be glad you had it done.