Dealing with and cleaning up after a flood in your home can include tossing out damaged items, removing standing water, and cleaning mold growth from some surfaces, when possible. Here are some steps to flood restoration so you can salvage your carpeting and remove dangerous mold spores that may lead to adverse health affects in you and your family.
Remove Standing Water
Before you can address any mold and mildew, you will need to suck up any standing water on your flooring. You can use a wet vac or a carpet cleaning machine to remove the excess water. If you have a carpet cleaner, this will become helpful in removing any mold growth. Otherwise, you can rent a carpet cleaner from a local rental business to help you with this clean-up.
For large amounts of standing water and water accumulation in your basement, you can rent a pump from a local disaster clean-up business or a rental business. Some communities will help provide these resources for free when neighborhood flooding affects a large area after a water disaster.
Eliminate Mold Growth
If there is mold growing on your carpeting, you can attempt to remove and eliminate the mold growth without discarding your carpeting. Combine a solution of one cup of bleach to your carpet cleaner's bucket of water. Apply this solution onto your moldy carpeting and let it sit for 15 to 20 minutes to allow time for the mold spores to be destroyed by the bleach. Use the carpet cleaner to pull up the cleaning solution and any mold spores remaining.
Be sure to take the carpeting cleaning machine outside and clean it with the same mixture of water and bleach. Let the machine and all components air dry before returning it back into your home or to the rental business.
Dry Out Remaining Moisture
Once you have your carpets and padding cleaned of any mold growth, you will need to allow them to dry completely as soon as possible. This process will remove the moisture to prevent additional mold growth in your carpets. Turn on several fans to blow directly onto your carpeting, which will circulate the air around and help reduce their moisture content. You may need to pull up the carpeting and pad to help air flow get to both sides of each flooring layer.
If there is a low humidity level in the air outside, it can be helpful to open windows in your home to reduce the moisture in the air and in your carpets. Otherwise, turn on your home's heating system to pull moisture from the air and help additionally dry the carpets. Some home heating systems have a dehumidifier built into them, or you can also rent a dehumidifier from a rental equipment business and run it inside your home while you dry out the carpeting.
Use these tips to help you clean up your carpeting after flooding and mold growth.
