Our house just got water throughout our 1st floor in a storm. We were able to get the water out, remove the padding under our carpet, and clean and deoderize it by a professional. He felt our carpet did not need to be replaced...he thought cleaning it was enough. We were also able to remove the water from the rest of the 1st floor fairly quickly. Our home now has a smell to it and we have no idea what is causing it or how to get rid of it. We are going to try using baking soda on the carpet in the morning, but if that doen't work, any suggestions? We don't even know if the carpet is wgat is causing the smell. We are already using a dehumidifier, have several fans going, and have had the windows open to try to air the house out. We had about 2 inches of water throught our entire 1st floor...carpet, tile, and laminate flooring. Thank you so much!
There is a good chance that water got into the insulation behind the drywall and is causing mold and the subsequent smell. The only way to get rid of that is to replace drywall and insulation.
I am guessing mold which means pull the carpet. sorry you are going through this but if it is mold it will make the whole house sick. it may not be in the carpet it may be in the walls. buy a mold test to see if I am right you can get them at lowes.
is it a musty smell. That will go away after a while. however sometimes during a storms the storms will back up the sewer drains in your yard and let sewage in during flooding. so if it smells real bad that could be why
If it's not mold then a room air purifier will work along with your dehumidifer. If you don't have a air purifier already look for one that you can vac out the filer instead of having to replace the filters. If you run the dehumidifier (make sure you dump the water out of that oftn and clean that as well) with air purifier the smell should be gone in 24 hours, so long as it is not a mold problem. Good luck!
How did the water get into the first floor. If it was flooded from outside there could now be mold in between the outside wall and inside wall. Or you could have missed cleaning some hard to get to spot such as under the refrigerator and stove or inside cabinets.
I'd lift up the carpet and pad and see if the smell is coming from the under layment or base floor.
Was the carpet dry when you had it reinstalled? You put down a new pad?
I would check with the carpet cleaning people for ideas. I would also talk with a service that does clean up after storms or other events, such as crimes, that cause smells in a house.
I would not put baking soda on the rcarpet. It will only complicate the problem because it is a solid. If the carpet is what smells the smell is coming from deep in the pile and you don't want to work a white powder down into the carpet for a variety of reasons. One is that you cannot get it out and when it's cleaned again you'll have a gooey mess.
When you get down and smell the floor close up, does the carpet smell? If so, I recommend using a product similar to Febreze. I'd see if I could find a comercial version.
If you can't smell anything when your nose is right next to the carpet the smell is coming from somewhere else.
The fire department may be able to help you. They evacuate smoke from buildings and in other ways help people deal with the after math of fires including water damage.
What did the professional say? Maybe call and ask his opinion.
Since my (unteachable) dog was skunked yesterday morning (for the second time in his life), I suggest placing ground coffee on plates. Fix about 4 or 5 with about 1/2 c. ground coffee on each and place around the room. It's amazing what it can do!
It really does go away (the smell that is) I lived through major flooding and actually had to rebuild the house (eventually it was demolished due to its chancey location on a creek) but we actually had creek waters come in. It takes awhile and just keep spraying it with febreeze, candles going etc. I assume it is only a couple of days. The other thing is the wet side is still on the floor not permitting it to dry as fast. Any chance of lifting some of it to air it out a bit? Did you take lots of pictures and call homeowners insurance? You might be qualified for a new one if it was wall to wall, or other losses depending on your policy. In my life I also learned to puchase very cheap carpets. especially with kids, dogs, and floods, they are then easily replaceable. Home depot and Menards are in your neck of the woods and they have suitable cheap and very nice other carpeting. Good luck!
carpet that gets soaked like that - is history. Get rid of it. And if there is even the slightest chance you will get water again, Go with area rugs.
I agree with the post about water and drywall - you need to get somebody in there to access if the dry wall is mildewing.
Sorry you are going through this. So frustrating and time consuming. But mother nature is mother nature.
its the dirt in the carpet.........it got wet and now it released all the bacteria into the air, its not going to get better, you have basically two options, professional cleaning, or new carpet
