Extract Water from Carpet and Hard Surfaces
Extracting Water thoroughly is an important step in Water Mitigation. This process provides a guide, and insights, on how to accomplish it most efficiently.
Step 1: Assess the affected area
Walk through the affected area using a moisture meter to determine the affected areas
Step 2: Deal with contents in the affected area
Assess the contents in the area and move and protect as needed
- Determine if a pack out is needed
- Move to unaffected areas
- Use Foam blocks to protect the bottom of the furniture
- Cover and protect with heavy Plastic( at least 4 mil)
Step 3: Ensure all required tools are available
Tools Needed:
- Moisture Meter
- Extraction unit(Portable, or Truck mount)
- Weighted Extractor
- Cover Guard for Extraction Wand
- Squeegee
- Floor mats for wood floors
Step 4: Take photos of any pre-existing damages
Make sure to take photos of any pre-existing damages BEFORE you do anything!
Step 5: Extract water on hard surface areas
Extracting Hard Surface areas
- Hardwood Flooring
- Use floor panels and attach the hose to extract from Hardwood
- Painted Concrete/Epoxy floor-
- Use a squeegee if possible to direct the water to one location
- Use metal wand with a protector to extract the water
Step 6: Select to use Heavy or Standard Extraction on carpet
Heavy vs Standard Extraction:
- The number 1 step in drying as quick as possible, is through extraction.
When the area is saturated, using heavy extraction methods will remove much more water, especially from the pad.
- If pad is being discarded, Heavy Extraction makes the Pad much lighter to carry
If the area is not heavily saturated, the standard Extraction is enough to remove as much water as needed to dry effectively
Step 7: If necessary remove carpet pad
After through extraction, remove the pad if needed
- Use heavy 3 mil garbage bags
- Do not overfill, as wet pad is very heavy
- Tie off the bags before moving and make sure there are no leaks, if there are, double bag it
Step 8: Re-extract after pad removal
When pad is removed, often times it may be necessary to extract any water that dripped from the pad
- When the carpet is laid back out, do a quick re-extraction to make sure any residual water from the pad is removed
Step 9: Add Drying Equipment
Once the area is thoroughly extracted and all pad that was removed is out of the home, it is time to place the drying equipment needed
