Wet carpet can be a perfect breeding ground for mold especially if the air is humid and the water remains in place longer than 48 hours.
Can wall heat dry a wet carpet.
Wet carpet pad can hold many times it s own weight in water so it is important to get as much water as possible out of the pad.
Focus on the pad since it will take longer than the carpet to dry.
If you can easily see the damp in your sheetrock the walls are probably painted with one or two coats of flat or semi gloss paint.
Find the cold leaky part of a wall with an infrared camera.
Circulate the air around the carpet as fast as possible.
Afterwards you will be left with a clean and dry carpet.
While the carpet is drying check the condition of the wall insulation.
Vacuum the wet carpet with a wet dry vacuum until no moisture remains.
Bottom line the humidity conditions in a room will determine the speed at which a wet carpet will dry.
It s important to act.
The same can be true of a small leak if it s caught soon enough.
Before vacuuming you can choose to spray a carpet cleaner over the surface.
When this happens immediately stop the flow of water and proceed to dry the drywall with towels.
Air movement and heat.
Place a fan nearby and direct the airflow across the affected region.
If you re prompt you can dry it out before it gets permanently damaged.
However if you only have standard fans a little.
Train an infrared camera on a wall with a leak and look to see which section of the wall is the coldest.
A leaky wet wall will have a cooler temperature than the surrounding wall.
Be sure to check carpet and padding for water damage and pull it up if necessary.
Infrared cameras detect heat and can indicate the temperature of a wall.
High powered fans are best for this job.
Next use a wet dry vacuum or shop vac to suck up as much of the remaining moisture as possible from the carpet fibers.
If you don t have insulation and you dry out the basement quickly you don t have to replace the drywall.
Snap a chalk line cut the drywall with a recip saw and toss the wet stuff.
Make your inspection easier and speed up drying time by moving everything out of the room.
Factor in wall covering or paint type.
Turn on any ceiling or household fans in the area to speed things along and be sure to check the floor and carpet padding underneath the carpet to remove any lingering moisture.
In a low humidity environment turning on the heater can provide extra heat needed to speed up the evaporation of moisture in a carpet allowing it to dry faster.
Wet carpet can become a real problem if it is left untreated and getting the moisture out in time can save you time and money.
Open windows turn on fans and put a fan on the floor to help dry things out.
Use fans heaters and or dehumidifiers to move warm air across the pad see step 3 from the small area instructions.
