Replacing Wet Carpet Padding

While the fibers in carpet padding seldom wear out before the carpet covering it there are instances when you need to replace carpet padding.

Replacing wet carpet padding. It s also the padding under the carpet. You can shampoo your carpet but that won t remove all the mold. After a category 2 event the carpet padding must be discarded. In most cases where water has saturated your carpet your carpet padding is a goner.

You may want to consider hiring a professional who has experience with this they will have access to tools of the trade that you may not readily have on hand. If you have furniture sitting on the carpet remove it so that your floor area is open. The padding under the carpet will need to be replaced if it s been affected in a flood. When your house floods it s not only the carpet that gets wet.

Once your carpet is dry and sanitized you can replace the padding with fresh material. If you have decided to proceed with repairing or replacing your damaged carpet and you have determined that the wet carpet needs to be disinfected make a solution consisting of 1 gallon of clean water with 2 tablespoons of liquid bleach. Your carpet may be in better or worse shape though so you will have to do an inspection to decide what shape it s in. To do that pull up the carpeting wearing gloves to reach the padding.

After the carpet and the flooring under have completely dried replace the padding and then reinstall the carpeting. It can be hard reinstalling dried carpet because it becomes stiff as it dries. Replacing carpet padding doesn t require you to replace the carpet but it will require you to pull it up. In addition before installing new carpeting the flooring needs to be treated with disinfectants.

You can do this yourself or call a professional for help. If your carpet sees a lot of traffic it may wear out sooner but if it s in a less traveled area it may last significantly longer. Additionally if the carpet has been wet for more than 48 hours the floor and padding beneath the carpet probably have mold as well. Steam cleaning wet carpet removes any toxins and deodorizes it.

Replace it to prevent the main carpet from becoming saturated with mold. Once carpet water damage mold has taken hold there s often no cleaning it up. A good rule of thumb for carpet padding is to replace it every five years. Retract the carpet over the wet area of the carpet padding by using a pair of pliers or a carpet puller to grip the carpet close to the baseboard of the wall and pull it away from the padding.

Then pull out the padding and dispose of it. Use the pliers to pull the carpet from the tack strip near the wall. If you have a major water leak you must take care to.