Lifting and drying wet carpet, pad and hardwood, and deciding what can be kept, from readings taken on the subfloor.
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Carpet and hardwood floor drying lifts or opens wet floor coverings so that the pad, the boards and the subfloor beneath them can be measured and dried. Wet pad and an undried subfloor are what make hardwood cup and carpet stain, so the work starts with the floor covering removed where water has gone through. Anchorage Water Damage Restoration sends a crew as soon as one is free, at any hour.
A floor covering is the surface the owner sees, and it hides the part that matters most. Carpet traps water in its backing and pad, and the pad holds it against the subfloor for days after the carpet looks dry. Hardwood sits on a subfloor and in a cavity of air that can hold moisture, and it takes up water along the seams and the edges before any surface damage appears.
Flooring is therefore a question of what is underneath, not of what is on top. A carpet that dries on its surface while the pad stays wet leaves a subfloor that will mould or swell. A hardwood floor that dries on its face while its underside is still wet cups as the wood releases the moisture unevenly. The crew lifts the covering where water has reached it and measures the subfloor before it decides what can stay.
Before the crew arrives, you can help by lifting small rugs off the floor, moving furniture onto a dry surface and keeping foot traffic off the wet area. Do not walk on wet hardwood, because the boards can swell and lift, and do not run a steam cleaner or a wet-dry vacuum over wet carpet, because that pushes water deeper into the pad and subfloor.
Do not walk on wet hardwood or on a subfloor that feels soft, because the boards can split and the floor can give way. Do not use a steam cleaner on wet carpet or on a subfloor that is still wet, because the steam drives water deeper. Keep electrical cords and extension leads out of the wet area, and switch off the power to any outlet in the room before touching the floor covering.
Move furniture onto dry surfaces, lift rugs and keep foot traffic off the wet area. Do not run a steam cleaner, a wet-dry vacuum or a household fan across the carpet, because each can push water deeper. The crew takes photographs of the floor and the water line before anything is moved.
The technician reads the floor covering, the pad and the subfloor with a meter, and checks the moisture at the edges of the room where water tends to travel. Readings are taken on a grid, because the wet area often extends beyond what the eye can see on the surface.
Carpet is lifted from its tack strip where it is wet, and the pad is removed where it has taken water through. Wet underlay under laminate or engineered wood is removed as well. Hardwood is opened at the seams where the readings are highest, so the cavity under the boards can dry and the crew can check the subfloor beneath.
Air movers are set across the floor and into the spaces under the boards, and a dehumidifier pulls moisture out of the room. The boards are dried to a reference that is taken from an undamaged part of the same floor, and the subfloor is dried to its own reference before the floor is closed up again.
Carpet that dries without losing its backing or its shape can often be re-laid, and hardwood that has not cupped can often be kept. Boards that have cupped or swollen beyond the reference are assessed after the drying, because they can recover in some cases and not in others. The decision and its reason are recorded.
Hardwood cups when the underside of a board is wetter than the top. The wood swells on the wet side and the board bows upward at the edges. It is a sign that moisture is uneven in the floor, and it is reversed only when the moisture in the subfloor and the underside is brought down to match the top.
Cupping can begin within a day or two of water reaching the subfloor, and it can become more pronounced as the wood dries from the top first. A board that has cupped may flatten as the moisture evens out, but a board that has been wet for a long time can be permanently distorted.
The crew does not predict the outcome from the look of the floor. It measures the boards, the underside and the subfloor, and it notes whether the cupping is still increasing. The decision to keep or replace the boards is made when the readings show the wood has stopped changing.
Rarely. The pad holds water beneath the surface, and a carpet that is dried on top leaves the pad and subfloor wet. Lifting the carpet is the only reliable way to measure and dry the pad and the floor beneath it, and it is done early before the wet pad causes damage.
A light spill that is wiped up within minutes and does not reach the pad may not need lifting. Anything that has soaked through, or that has been wet for more than a short time, is lifted and assessed.
When a carpet is lifted, the crew stacks and records it so that it can be re-laid if it dries well. Carpet that has been wet with sewage or with floodwater is treated under the sewage or flood steps, and the carpet is removed rather than cleaned.
The subfloor is dry when its moisture reading is at the dry reference taken from an undamaged part of the same floor. A surface that looks dry is not a reliable sign, because the subfloor can hold water below the surface for much longer than the room appears wet.
The crew reads the subfloor from above through small openings and, where needed, from below through the crawl space or the cellar. The readings are logged against the floor plan, so that every area that was wet is shown as dry before it is closed.
Closing a floor too early traps moisture under the new covering, and the problem appears weeks later as a stain, a smell or a lifting board. The crew does not sign off a floor until every reading is at the reference.
If a floor must be replaced, the crew says which boards, pad or underlay are removed and why. The subfloor is dried and checked before the new floor is laid. The replacement itself is a separate scope and is priced after the drying has been confirmed.
A replacement floor needs a dry subfloor to sit on. A new floor laid over a wet subfloor will fail in the same way as the old one, so the crew confirms the drying before the flooring contractor begins.
Keep the samples of the old flooring if the replacement is to match it, and photograph the floor before it is removed. The insurer and the flooring contractor both need to know what was there.
Yes. Carpet over pad, solid hardwood and engineered wood with a plywood core each release water at a different rate. Thick pad and tight boards hold moisture longer, so drying takes longer than it does on a bare tile floor.
The crew sets the drying plan for the floor type it finds, and the readings tell it when the floor is ready. A mixed floor, with carpet in one room and hardwood in another, is measured zone by zone, because each zone dries on its own schedule.
The crew does not commit to a number of days over the phone. It commits to a check on each visit and a written log, and it explains the schedule once the floor has been measured.
Carpet with a sound backing and a clean pad can be dried and re-laid. Pad that has taken water is removed in all but the lightest cases, because pad is hard to dry through and it holds odour. The subfloor under the pad is measured and dried before any new pad or carpet is fitted.
Solid boards are dried in place where possible, with air moved under and across them. Engineered boards with a plywood core take up water differently and are checked for delamination at the edges. Boards that have cupped badly may flatten as they dry, and the crew says how long it expects to wait before deciding.
Laminate with a particleboard core swells at the joints and can be lost where water has stood on it. Tile can be dried in place if the grout and the subfloor are sound, but the tile bed and any board below it are measured. The crew records the joints and the grout where it has seen damage.
The room's heating helps a floor dry from above, but a subfloor or a crawl-space floor below it dries on its own schedule. The crew measures the subfloor directly and does not rely on the warmth of the room to dry it.
A floor in Eagle River, Chugiak, Girdwood or Indian is handled by the same steps as one in the city. The difference that matters is the access to the subfloor, which can be harder in a house with a crawl space or a log or timber wall, and the crew plans the openings before it starts.
Where a floor covering is removed and replaced, the Municipality of Anchorage's rules may apply to any change to the structure beneath the floor. Ask the flooring contractor whether a permit is needed before the work begins.
A crew is dispatched as fast as one is available, and you approve the estimate before any work starts.
Not sure if you're covered? Check your ZIP code.
Pumping and removing standing water from floors, cellars and crawl spaces, answered around the clock across Anchorage.
Air movers and dehumidifiers that dry walls, framing and subfloors to moisture readings, not to appearance.
Recognising mold after a water loss, drying the cause and checking a firm's credentials before any work starts.
Water from a washing machine, dishwasher or icemaker that reaches the floor and the room below.
A water damage restoration quote depends on how much area is wet, how deep the water has travelled, which materials must be removed rather than dried, and how hard the building is to reach.
Often, if it is dried promptly and the subfloor is dry beneath it. Boards that have cupped badly may flatten as they dry, and some cannot be saved. The crew records the state of each area and tells you what it expects.
The pad holds water below the surface and releases it slowly. A dry-looking carpet over a wet pad is a common finding, which is why the crew lifts the carpet and measures the pad and the subfloor.
A fan can help once the crew has set equipment, but a fan run alone does not reach the subfloor or the space under the boards. Ask the crew whether your fan is useful alongside its equipment, and where to place it.
It can. Carpet that has been wet, lifted and re-laid may show a stain where the water left a mark, or it may stretch. The crew notes the condition of the carpet before lifting, so the change can be compared after the drying.
The crew removes flooring that cannot be dried. The replacement is done by a flooring contractor, which the crew can help you contact through its records. The new floor should not be laid until the subfloor is confirmed dry.
The readings decide it. The crew confirms the subfloor and the boards are at the dry reference, and records the readings. Closing the floor before that point is the most common reason for a second failure.