Can wet carpet be saved in a Honolulu home?
Wet carpet can be saved when the water was clean, the carpet was removed quickly and the pad is dry enough to hold the carpet down again. Carpet that was under flood water, or that stayed wet for a long time, usually has to come out. The crew makes the decision from the pad, the readings and the water source.
The pad is the part that decides. A pad that holds water or silt keeps the carpet damp from below, and the carpet can smell or stain even when its surface looks clean. The crew lifts the edge of the carpet to see the pad, and it reads the pad with a meter.
Carpet that is saved has to be stretched and re-secured, and the crew checks the tack strip at the edges. A carpet that will not lie flat after drying may need to be replaced, and the crew says so when that is the case.
What happens to hardwood after water gets under it?
Hardwood that has taken water can swell, cup, crown or gap. The boards can often be dried in place if they have not lifted from the subfloor or swollen beyond recovery. The crew checks the boards at several points, dries the subfloor beneath and waits for the wood to settle before finishing.
Solid wood reacts to water by taking it into the fibers, which makes it swell. Once the wood dries, it may shrink back to its shape. Cupping can reverse as the moisture leaves the board, but it can take days, and the crew does not judge the result on the first visit.
Boards that stay cupped, crowned or lifted after drying are marked and replaced. The homeowner is shown which boards are affected and why, so the replacement can be matched to the existing floor.
Why is the subfloor so important for a floor drying job?
The subfloor sits under the finished floor and holds water for longer than the surface does. A floor that looks dry can still have a wet subfloor, which can rot or cup the finished floor later. The crew reads the subfloor and dries it before the finished floor is laid back.
Subfloors in the Honolulu area are read on each visit, because the readings show whether the moisture is still moving. The crew reads from above where the finished floor is removed, and from below where the space allows.
A wet subfloor that is closed up under a new floor will keep the new floor damp. Ask for the subfloor readings to be recorded before the new floor is laid, so the result is shown on paper.
What should a homeowner expect when a floor is removed?
Removing a floor means noise, dust and a room that is cleared for the work. The crew protects the walls and the other rooms, and it marks each piece of flooring as it comes out. The homeowner is told where the removed material is taken and what the next step is.
Carpet that comes out is rolled and removed in sections. Pad is bagged or removed as it is lifted, so the silt does not move into the rest of the house. Hardwood boards are numbered as they are lifted so that any that can be reused are put back in the right place.
The crew will tell you when the subfloor is dry and when a new floor can be laid. Do not walk on a wet subfloor, and do not allow the new floor to be laid until the readings show the subfloor is at the target.
How do you check that a floor is dry before it is covered again?
A floor is dry when the readings at the surface, the subfloor and the framing below have reached the target in the drying plan. The readings are repeated on each visit and recorded. A floor that looks dry is not enough on its own, because the subfloor may still be holding water.
Ask for the final reading record and check that it shows the subfloor and the floor covering, not only the surface. Compare the final readings with the starting readings, so the difference is clear.
A new floor laid over a damp subfloor can cup, stain or smell within weeks. The readings are the best protection against that, and they are the record an insurer or a contractor will ask for.
