Is keeping carpet that was SOAKING wet SAFE or should it be replaced for HEALTH reasons? My mom said that inhaling the mold it could cause could make us very ill even kill us. Replacing it isn't really an option though. Is this true? What should I do??
Personally, I would rip it out and not take the chance of growing mold. If you don't have flood insurance and can't afford to replace the carpet all at once, believe me (speaking from Katrina experience) you can live with throw rugs on bare concrete for a long time while working a room at a time to put down new tile, wood or carpeted floors.
This has worked for me. Use your carpet shampoo machine to extract the water. Be persistent with extracting the water, do it many times, and have fans blowing over the carpet.
I never had mildew.
Here are the questions asked by community members. Read on to see the answers provided by the ThriftyFun community.
How hazardous is it to be confined to a office that has half of the carpet still partially wet and smelling like mildew? It has been wet for 48 hours now from a rain flood?
By Teri C. from Snellville, GA
It can be very dangerous especially if you have any kind of allergies. My sister once moved into a house that had mildew in the walls from a leak in the roof. She ended up in the hospital twice before someone realized what was causing the problem.
If the office is rented ask the owner maitenance to fix it. If the office is assigned to you request another office until that one is cleaned up. If they give you a hard time tell them you will contact the board of health and see if they can help convince anyone to fix the problem.
Not only are you at risk for bacteria and mold, you're also at risk of an electrical shock if you're using any kind of plugged-in equipment! If this is an office in your home, you'll need to get someone like Servpro to clean it up; if it's a regular office, they're violating OSHA regulations in providing a safe, healthy work environment.
