Flooded/Damp Carpet Cleanup Suggestions

[beers]

Is there a better way than others to clean up a basement that had a lot of water leak into it?

We had a fairly large storm that flooded places downtown (see below). Our place wasn't too bad but we do have a lot of moisture in the carpet that seems to have come through the basement floor. Any better ways than others to deal with that? I was going to pick up a steam cleaner and some box fans on the way home.

 

[tremmor]

the carpet vac or good shop vac will suck water. Fans is good and would suggest dehumidifier .

 

[Cromewell]

The most reliable is usually an under carpet blower. Something like http://www.homedepot.com/p/RIDGID-1625-CFM-Air-Mover-AM2560/202942745

I'm sure there are cheaper ones/rental options available.

 

[porterjw]

Copius amounts of baking soda on the carpet too. Seriously, a lot. Don't make an inch thick layer or anything, but you'll want to actually see that it's there. Then just vacuum when everything is dry. It will help with any odors as well.

 

[johnb35]

Dehumidifier helps

 

[Darren]

When our basement got flooded we took up the baseboards so there was a small gap between the floor and the carpet. Don't know if that's necessary but we had a good inch of water in places and with some dehumidifiers and industrial fans we still have the same carpet put down and looks fine.

Didn't realize you guys got so much rain. RIP, particularly in your fancy shmancy new house.

 

[Motorcharge]

Used to do this for a living. If it was there for more than a day rip it out before it starts to mold and mildew. The under carpet blowers are the only way to properly get carpet dry again and even then it's better to replace because the laminate on the back of the carpet is going to be ruined meaning the barrier between the carpet and padding is no good.

The store rented steam cleaners aren't worth renting either. Not only can they not properly remove enough moisture from the carpet they typically do more harm than good and leave too much of the cleaning agent behind in the carpet which ends up attracting dirt and crap and making the carpet get dirty and wear faster. Spend the $100 and hire a real professional carpet cleaner that uses hot water extraction. Don't waste your money on the big corporate companies like Stanley Steamer and Chem-Dry. Their machines put down the cleaning agent as they're cleaning so they only have to do one step, but as mentioned above it means the cleaning agent is never properly removed so it ends up attracting dirt so they can keep coming back. Any real carpet cleaning service should be pre-spraying the cleaning solution then coming back over it with the wand with only hot water to rinse the cleaners back out.