Water damage to Carpet

11/3/2020 (Permalink)

Once the water migration edge is located, it is important to protect furniture from contact with wet carpet. Simple foam furniture blocks, foil, or plastic tabs accomplish this task. Blocking furniture accomplishes a number of important goals, including:

• the prevention of color transfer between furniture and carpet (which causes staining)
• the prevention of rust stains
• the facilitating of effective and efficient drying by elevating furniture (especially low or heavy furniture such as bookcases)

In some restoration projects it is necessary to remove the carpet pad. This process will require the Project Manager to disengage stretched-in carpeting. Because carpet loses 80%-85% of its strength when it is wet, it is vital to treat carpet as gentle as possible until it dries.

Whenever carpet must be disengaged from the tack strip, a knee kicker and carpet awl must be used. The knee kicker is used to release the tension on the carpet and move it away from the tack strip. Then, the carpet awl is pierced through the carpet's primary and secondary backing and used to lift it up and away from the tack strip. This method of disengagement effectively reduces the possibility of delamination.

Carpet is disengaged around the perimeter of the room, then rolled back in one direction to expose the pad beneath. The majority of pad has a skin or mesh on the top side. The purpose of this skin is to ease carpet stretching during installation.