Plantation's Water Damage Technicians Explain Moisture's Effects on Carpet

4/28/2018 (Permalink)

If moisture is not extracted quickly, it can damage carpet to the point where it must be removed and replaced.

Call SERVPRO ASAP to Save Carpet after Water Damage

Water getting inside a house in Plantation can cause problems with building materials, including carpet. Excessive moisture can damage the carpet to the point where it must be removed and replaced. Since carpeting material is porous, carpet can trap in moisture present in the subfloor.

If the carpet is left wet for too long, foul odors can fill the room with mildew-like smells. Some types of carpet can develop black mold after a water damage issue in Plantation. Mold can spread to other building materials and cause health effects.

Determining whether the carpet needs to be removed or if water removal can save it is the first step when mitigating issues with wet carpet. All carpet has a primary and secondary backing that is held together with latex. Latex also is what adheres the carpet fibers to the backing. When carpets get saturated by water, the latex can deteriorate.

When the latex breaks down due to moisture, delamination or the separation of the backing material can occur. Deteriorating latex reduces the carpets structural integrity. If the primary or secondary backing gets detached, the carpet must be replaced.

After water affects a house, any glued down carpet can form bubbles underneath. The bubbles are the result of moisture breaking down the glue. In some cases, our SERVPRO technicians can peel up the carpet and glue it back down to remove the air bubbles. In other scenarios, the carpet must get pulled up and removed.

The padding underneath carpet can get ruined by excessive moisture as well. If water saturates carpet padding, it can lose its structural integrity and break apart. Padding can also trap moisture present inside the subfloor and hold foul odors. If the carpet pad gets in the way of drying the subfloor or carpet, it gets pulled out and discarded because it is relatively inexpensive to replace.

If the moisture inside the home has not yet ruined the carpet or pad, then it can be saved by drying. When drying carpet and the pad underneath it, our IICRC certified technicians pull up the carpet and put an air mover at an end so that the air "floats" the carpet up and dries more rapidly. Calling SERVPRO of Ft. Lauderdale South at (954) 776-2000 can help speed up the drying of excessive moisture inside your home.

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