Flooded finished basement, pull the carpet ?

[fastfredracing]

My neighbors place flooded Saturday. !2 " of water in his finished basement . The room is carpeted, and dry walled . It was in standing water for 5 hours or more, it got really , really wet .
I told him to remove everything they can, furniture etc, and just lift the carpet on Sunday morning. It already smelled moldy to me by then. I was ready to shoot right up there and give them a hand .
They are still trying to dry it out. Despite using a carpet cleaner, shop vac, and de humidifiers , it is still very wet, damp , and moldy smelling to me.
They think they can save the carpet, I think they are going to end up gutting the room if they don't remove the wet carpet NOW.
The drywall is already starting to wick up the moisture. No insurance for this type of event, so they are flying solo .
Am I wrong?

[oldE]

Nope.

Pull the carpet. Remove the lower portion of drywall ASAP.
Studs will have to dry too.
Had a similar problem 24 years ago.

Best
Les

[dennis in se pa]

What oldE said. The sooner the drywall is cut the less it will wick up the wall. Might as well let the carpet dry before removing it - weight factor. Sorry to hear.

[URY914]

They need to cut a "ripper" in the drywall at the bottom about 8"-12" up from the floor. It will stop the water from wicking up and allow you to suck up the water in the studs and bottom track/plate of the wall.

If they keep sucking up the water they could save the carpet but is it worth it? Is the carpet glued down? If not can they roll it up and get it out. With the water being in there for so long the concrete is wet too.

[stomachmonkey]

If they wait too long they'll get mold and if they think they have a problem now.............

[Seahawk]

I have a basement that flooded. We tried to "save" the carpet: All hands on deck, wet vacs, fans, dehumidifiers, mold spray, the works.

Don't.

Still own the house. Basement has a tile floor.

[VINMAN]

Had two feet of water in my finished basement after Sandy. Gutted everything up to the 4 ft level. Carpet, padding drywall, insulation, etc...

.

[Joe Bob]

Consider a sump, a pump, an alarm......and insurance.

[recycled sixtie]

In addition to all of the above suggestions it must be noted that the water got in somehow in the first place. This must be addressed or the same thing could happen again. Crack in the basement wall, weeping tile problem?
Guy

[MRM]

The carpet was lost as soon as it was covered in water. It can't be saved. It has to go before they ruin the rest of the house.

Why no insurance? They probably have insurance that would cover it. A professional insurance disaster recovery professional would make short work of the problem and would have them back to normal in the time they've spent making things worse. Call the insurance company. I'll do it for them if they don't want to.

[recycled sixtie]

Originally Posted by Joe Bob

Consider a sump, a pump, an alarm......and insurance.

+1

This is what my daughter and husband did at their last house as a cheap fix. They sold the house shortly after.

[Seahawk]

Originally Posted by Joe Bob

Consider a sump, a pump, an alarm......and insurance.

Amen.

We put in a second pump (in addition to the French drain sump) and sump, battery back-up and alarm.

I'm stuck with the basement as configured, but at least we have dual options.

[NY65912]

Having gone through this because of Sandy I pulled the carpet and cut drywall immeadiatley. BTW, no insurance either, but now flood insurance is mandated for my area. Things have got to dry out REAL well. Spraying mold killer is also a good idea after all is dry. The longer things can stay open the better.

Good Luck

[Bugsinrugs]

Yes...carpet is a total loss. Glues that hold carpet together are water soluble. The glue lets go of the secondary backing and turns to what looks like sand.

[Hugh R]

10:1 water: Bleach works well. get a moisture meter. Reference against a known dry wall stub. Pull drywall up to wet as others have said. I do indoor air quality/mold as a side business. PM me with any questions.

[wdfifteen]

Lots of good advice here. The carpet is a total loss. Cut the drywall at 2 or 4 feet and get it and any insulation out of there. Bring in a dehumidifier. Dry it fast or mold will start growing and your friend really, really doesn't want that.
Water damage insurance is hard to get here. My insurance will cover water damage if it comes in through the roof, but plumbing and groundwater intrusion are specifically excluded.
What caused the flood?

[greglepore]

MRM-Flooding from EXTERNAL water isn' t covered by most standard homeowner's policies. Only flooding from burst pipes or clogged drains.

[MRM]

That's not necessarily true. It takes a good coverage analysis to determine whether is its excluded. It's the insurers burden to prove an exclusion. Any ambiguity goes to the insured. It depends on how the policy is written and an outright exclusion is hard to enforce. Then there is the issue of whether the insured purchased a rider for otherwise excluded water damage, usually capped at $50,000. Then you have to look at the ensuing loss provision. You just don't know until you look at the actual policy language.

What company is the insurer? What is the cause of the loss? I can tell you a lot more if you answer these questions. But as for the original post, the carpet was toast as soon as it flooded and everything they've done since then have made matters worse.

[EarlyPorsche]

Dad this happen. Called insurance. They came and estimated the repairs (was from a leaking ice maker line). A check showed up a couple days later.

[A930Rocket]

Pull the carpet, cut back the drywall and insulation, install lots of fans and dehumidifiers.