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Can Carpets Be Saved After A Flood?
Homes and commercial buildings in the Milwaukee area are built to resist the elements in this region. However, while rainstorms and snowfall are things any structure can easily fend off, flood damage is a whole other ballgame and often one with the most serious consequences in terms of damage.
For many property owners, floods mean the permanent loss of items in the building, such as delicate consumer electronics like computers, televisions, and printers. Often, one of the biggest items in a property—especially in terms of literal square footage—is the carpet. What can be done about this?
The Fabric Problem
The big issue with carpet—as it is for some types of furniture—is that this property item is largely made with fabric. Whether the material is natural or synthetic has zero impact on the vulnerability carpet has to water. Most home and business owners are already aware that any accident with spilled liquids, such as drinks or even paints or print toner, can result in permanently stained or damaged carpets.
The same is true with an extreme situation like flooding, but orders of magnitude more severe. A flood can potentially soak an entire carpet, from top to bottom, depending on the location of the carpet and how widespread the flooding is in that area.
One of the biggest issues with a soaked carpet is the health risk. Wet carpet takes an extremely long time to dry. In some cases, parts of the carpet may never naturally dry out and remain perpetually damp, which becomes an ideal environment for microbes, bacteria, and mold. Should a mold colony infest a carpet, there’s a real risk of this spreading to other damp portions of a building for a sizable infestation.
The Recovery
While it is never easy to recover a carpet that has been subjected to flood damage, it is not impossible. One of the crucial factors to successfully recovering a carpet is time. If a carpet can be removed within the first 24-48 hours of water damage occurring, the odds of a successful recovery and restoration are much higher. Unfortunately, the opposite is also true, and if a carpet remains in floodwater for weeks or even months, it’s often impossible to recover satisfactorily, and a replacement will be required.
Having professionals recover and restore a carpet is essential to success. Just removing a carpet from a room and hanging it out to dry will not achieve the results you want. A range of highly specialized equipment is required to draw out all the moisture from every layer of a carpet, which is crucial to ensuring that no health risks arise from placing the carpet back inside a building. Never use shortcuts if you’re serious about carpet recovery.
If your home or business has sustained water damage and you want to recover furniture or carpeting, we may be able to help. Emergency Restoration Specialists have over 30 years of experience serving the Milwaukee area with water damage repair and restoration. Contact us 24/7 for a prompt, professional response.