Saltwater all over basement carpeted floor--any help?

[kimberly]

My hubby set up an automatic drip for his 300+ gal tank in the basement & forgot about it while we left the house for several hours. We came home to be greeted by the smell. We are guessing that there are over 300 gal of saltwater on the carpet- thankfully dh was able to resalinize the tank & everything looks good (although one coral might not make it).

Can anyone give me any ideas of what to do about the carpet? We borrowed a large fan & have been using tons of towels, but the carpet is still wet & we are concerned about mold.

He also learned his lesson & will be setting the kitchen timer next time he does the drip. It has been a very busy couple of weeks so we have both been distracted.

Thank you

 

[fishfreek]

Wow, Good luck on your clean up. I would if you have some put dehumifiers in the room and let them run non stop for a while. Using fans will help dry the carpet but at the expense of evaporation and the moisture will need to go somewhere. The key I feel is quick drying so the mold does not have a chance to start.

 

[austinsdad]

You're gonna have to pull the carpet up off the floor IMO. I did that and propped it up in a few places and turned a couple of fans on. I did change the padding out still.

Fans stayed on for a couple of days, 24hrs. Depends on the quality of the carpet too I believe.

 

[bs6749]

You will want to use a carpet extractor. You may be able to rent one from a local hardware store. I believe there is some carpet shampoo available that helps to prevent fungus/mold/mildew but you will need to check on that. If you can't do that I would have some place like Stanley Steemer come out for an estimate. I don't know where abouts you are in MI but I know they are on the western part of the state where I am located. I don't think the dehumidifiers would do much until you have the carpet deep cleaned.

 

[Kurt_Nelson]

Ugg. I've had to deal with water issues at my place before (pre-aquarium!). With the quantity of water you're talking about, you're going to have to pull the carpet up like austinsdad mentioned and get the pad dried. Either that or hire a professional outfit that specializes specifically in water damage - not just a teenager with a steam cleaner. If it's had more than a day to sit, I'd seriously think about changing the pad.

 

[Zagz]

Sorry to hear that, I would contact a professional company that deals in water damage asap. Also pull the carpet up as well as suggested. Glad to hear that most everything is doing well in the tank.

 

[MACATUA]

Yea if 300 gallons of water is on teh carpet, you will have a mildew smell unless you get a pro setup out there.

Sorry to hear about that....