What is carpet water extraction?
Carpet water extraction is the process of pulling water out of wet carpet and the pad beneath it with powerful extraction equipment, then drying the carpet, pad and floor so they don't trap moisture. It is the step that decides whether your carpet can stay. Household wet vacs pull water off the surface. Professional extraction tools press down through the carpet and into the pad.
Carpet extraction is one part of emergency water removal, which also covers pumping standing water from hard floors and finding water hidden in walls.
Can wet carpet be saved?
It depends mostly on the type of water, how long the carpet has been wet, and the condition of the pad.
| Situation | Carpet | Pad |
|---|---|---|
| Clean water from a supply line, found quickly | Usually extracted and dried in place | Sometimes dried, often replaced |
| Clean water that sat for several days | May be saved if it hasn't delaminated or started to smell | Usually replaced |
| Gray water, such as washer overflow or dishwasher discharge | Sometimes cleaned and saved, depending on the carpet and conditions | Usually replaced |
| Sewage or outside floodwater | Removed | Removed |
The water categories come from the IICRC S500 standard for water damage restoration. Our guide to water damage categories and classes explains them in more detail.
Signs the damage goes deeper than the carpet
- The carpet feels dry on top but damp when you press down
- A musty or sour smell that lingers after the surface dries
- Ripples, bubbles or loose seams that weren't there before
- Stains wicking up from below as the carpet dries
- Wet tack strip or baseboards along the wall
- Damp spots on the drywall just above the floor
What to do before we arrive
- Stop the water at the fixture or the main shutoff.
- Stay off wet carpet near outlets, cords or power strips.
- Move furniture off the carpet, or put foil or plastic under the legs so wood stains and metal rust don't transfer.
- Pick up rugs, books, shoes and anything on the floor. Paper and fabric stain carpet quickly when wet.
- Don't use a household vacuum on wet carpet, and don't touch carpet wet with toilet or sewer water.
How we extract and dry carpet
- Identify the water source and category, which decides what can be kept.
- Extract the water. Truck-mounted or portable extractors with weighted extraction tools press water out of the carpet and pad.
- Check under the carpet. We lift a corner or section to measure moisture in the pad, the tack strip and the slab or subfloor.
- Decide on the pad. Pad that can't be dried well, or that touched contaminated water, is cut out and removed.
- Dry in place. Carpet can be floated, with air blown underneath it, or dried flat with dehumidifiers and air movers. Moisture readings are logged each day.
- Dry the walls too. Water wicks up drywall from wet carpet. Baseboards may come off so the bottom of the wall can dry. See structural drying.
- Reinstall or replace. Dried carpet is re-stretched and seamed over new pad, or replaced if it can't be saved.
Carpet on a concrete slab
Most East Valley homes are built on concrete slabs, so carpet sits on pad laid directly over concrete. Concrete holds water and dries slowly, and it can keep the pad damp from below even after the carpet looks dry. That is why we measure the slab, not just the carpet. If the water came up from under the slab, our slab leak water damage page explains how that job differs.
When carpet has to come out
Carpet and pad are removed when they were touched by sewage or by floodwater that flowed in from outside, when they have delaminated or started to grow mold, or when drying them would cost more than replacing them. Contaminated water follows our sewage backup cleanup process. We explain the reason for every removal and photograph the materials for your insurance claim before they leave the house.