Help! Carpet cleaning/drying advice after huge "spill"

[Oohitsae]

The yesterday I woke up to about 5 gallons all over my floor. Apparently my filter sponge got clogged up and so instead of water draining back into the tank, it started draining all over my carpet. Anyways, I figured I'd let it air dry, but tonight I noticed that it's starting to smell, moldy is the best way I can describe it. I also noticed that it's doing more spreading than drying.

The tank sits on top of a stand that goes all the way to the carpet, so I can't clean under it without moving the entire tank, but since the carpet is wet in front of the tank, while the filter is on the back, I can almost guarentee its under the stand as well.

Is there any way I can clean this up without having to move it and give the carpet a good shampoo?


It also happens to be on the 2nd story, so I'm wondering if I should be worried about it compromising the structure of my house?


Basically, it's a huge mess, and I've got so much anxiety over it, I can't think straight about what I should do to fix this issue.

Any help would be greatly appreciated!

 

[spiketooth]

Get a wet vac and suck as much water you can, or a carpet steam cleaner

 

[sheilak]

wet carpet

when you get as much water up as possible turn a fan on it it ll dry up the carpet

 

[FishCr8zy]

Get a wet vac and suck as much water you can, or a carpet steam cleaner

+1 for the wet vac. Those things are really good at sucking up water and other things. Also, turn on a humidifier and a lot of fans to dry the floor.
Go to the room underneath your room and make sure water is not leaking through floor boards.
Do you have a carpet, tile, or wood floor?

 

[Rivers2k]

Try using a steamer set on spill pick up. You most definitely want to move the tank. The water could get trapped in the padding below the carpet ruining your floor causing mold.

 

[Oohitsae]

Thanks for all the advice everyone! Went out and rented a shampooer and tore everything down a couple of hours ago. Holy crap! It was such a workout carrying all that furniture out and then lifting the tank still 1/4 of the way full...I'm a 115lb girl so I don't have a lot of muscle so you can imagine the difficulty of it all lol

Anyways, I'm going to let it dry over the weekend and then go over it again if need be on Sunday...if the smell isn't gone

I haven't noticed any leaking when I was looking around downstairs, but is there a way to tell if water got into the support beams or if anything like that could even happen? I'm a bit paranoid

 

[Ian086]

I haven't noticed any leaking when I was looking around downstairs, but is there a way to tell if water got into the support beams or if anything like that could even happen? I'm a bit paranoid

I wouldn't worry about the support beams, they are usually overkill in strength, so can handle a bit of water. The wood would be pressure treated and could easily handle that. Water pipes burst in houses all the time. It would only be long term continuous leaking that would rot the wood.....

 

[FishCr8zy]

Thanks for all the advice everyone! Went out and rented a shampooer and tore everything down a couple of hours ago. Holy crap! It was such a workout carrying all that furniture out and then lifting the tank still 1/4 of the way full...I'm a 115lb girl so I don't have a lot of muscle so you can imagine the difficulty of it all lol

Anyways, I'm going to let it dry over the weekend and then go over it again if need be on Sunday...if the smell isn't gone

I haven't noticed any leaking when I was looking around downstairs, but is there a way to tell if water got into the support beams or if anything like that could even happen? I'm a bit paranoid

Depending on what type of ceiling you have, you should see a spot ( small or large ) that is the normal color of the ceiling in the middle and is brownish on the circumference.

 

[Ian086]

A tip if you find some water stains on the ceiling below. You can get special paint for water stains but they can be expensive. Get some gloss paint, cover the patch, and paint over with emulsion paint or whatever paint you choose. The gloss paint will seal and hide the stain. You will have to paint the whole ceiling though.....

 

[FishCr8zy]

A tip if you find some water stains on the ceiling below. You can get special paint for water stains but they can be expensive. Get some gloss paint, cover the patch, and paint over with emulsion paint or whatever paint you choose. The gloss paint will seal and hide the stain. You will have to paint the whole ceiling though.....

Yeah, if you paint only one spot, that spot will look out of place either because the paint is just a tad different in color or the paint around it is the same color or has worn off so its lighter in color.

 

[giffmastaflex]

A tip if you find some water stains on the ceiling below. You can get special paint for water stains but they can be expensive. Get some gloss paint, cover the patch, and paint over with emulsion paint or whatever paint you choose. The gloss paint will seal and hide the stain. You will have to paint the whole ceiling though.....

Actually the best route for painting the ceiling would be to get a primer then paint it, gloss is good for washing and wiping the walls but most ceilings are painted flat(that is the sheen of ceiling paint). I work at a lowes near me in paint and you would probably have to use a latex paint just to be on the safe side because oil based paint will have a tough time sticking to latex( assuming ceiling is painted with latex) if you go to the paint department at lowes just ask for kills premium, it's a water based paint(latex) and is made for stains such as water and smoke stains, then you could buy your regular ceiling paint that you like using, no need to use the paint and primer stuff, it's just a marketing scheme. Paint and primer in one means its just thicker paint and allows for easier color change.

 

[Ian086]

Actually the best route for painting the ceiling would be to get a primer then paint it, gloss is good for washing and wiping the walls but most ceilings are painted flat(that is the sheen of ceiling paint). I work at a lowes near me in paint and you would probably have to use a latex paint just to be on the safe side because oil based paint will have a tough time sticking to latex( assuming ceiling is painted with latex) if you go to the paint department at lowes just ask for kills premium, it's a water based paint(latex) and is made for stains such as water and smoke stains, then you could buy your regular ceiling paint that you like using, no need to use the paint and primer stuff, it's just a marketing scheme. Paint and primer in one means its just thicker paint and allows for easier color change.

Sorry to go off topic but if it's just to cover a stain, then the method I suggested is good. Why would she need to prime, or use a latex paint. She won't be replacing the ceiling, just covering the stain, by the way is not there....yet. Maybe you guys use different paints or different names but I have done this twice. The oil based(gloss) paint seals the stain and stops it coming through the new paint. You can then paint the ceiling with whatever paint you like....
PS... I'm not saying your wrong by the way, just saying what worked for me!!!

 

[Rodeo one]

Sorry to say, but IMO you need to move everything & pull the carpet up, then use fans....big fans.

 

[giffmastaflex]

If the current paint is latex, oil based paints will hard a tough time sticking to latex, also if the paint is gloss and you want to paint over it, the new paint will have a tough time sticking to the gloss, that's why all primer is flat and not gloss. And if your method works that's great but the best route that is far rented to work is the route I mentioned

 

[Surfer]

Wow this same thing happened to me last week, but it was fairly easy to clean haha, it happened overnight. Goodluck

 

[spiketooth]

I would not worry to much about the water, as you have said its was spreading which is a good thing. Your carpet was acting like a sponge and absorb the water, reducing how much was actualy sitting on your floor boards and the chances of it seaping into the floor boards.