4. I have checked the tightness of all the crossmembers to the floor and all is good so is this normal or do I have to order a wave shield? Remove dried spots immediately by scraping carefully towards the middle of the spot. Professional carpet cleaning when needed. There is no sign of dripping from above. Ask MetaFilter is where thousands of life's little questions are answered. Always use the standard floorhead, never the rotating brush, when vaccuming the rug. It started out as just a few drops showing through the carpet. The carpet is soggy to touch. Seriously, you should just call Cooperative Extension and/or the Geology Dept. Unfortunately there is no way around it. If possible, open the windows to reduce indoor humidity. Again, many people think that standing water is due to it coming through the floor and while it might have, you must also check the ceiling. If you go out and dig a 3 foot deep hole in your yard, do you see water in it? There's nothing on the ceiling to indicate a leak from above. I'm assuming that your water table is not high enough to be causing this problem, but has it been raining lately where you are? Do not rub wet spots. Yeah, basement/slab/foundation guy -- basically high-water-pressure areas like THE DIRT want the water to flow into low-water-pressure areas like YOUR HOUSE. These brown stains are often in the middle of wall-to-wall carpet and are not pleasant to look at. I live in an apartment and that area is above the room where hot water tanks are. Do not rub wet spots. I put a towel over it and started "mopping" it up. Or lots of springs? Replace Carpet Padding. say mold and people freak. Exclusively cut and bound by rug styles Online in the USA. I am guessing that when you pull up the carpeting, you will find a crack in the slab. As long as it is not glue down carpet, it is very easy to pull up, especially if there is an outside corner nearby. They should at least be able to tell you if there might be old pipes from some previous house or farm. I'd be calling a foundation specialist. When it rains, our living room carpet gets wet in two distinctly different areas of the room. Lets explore these. If you were to draw a line thru the house where the spots occur, it would be almost a straight line. Depending on how your carpet was laid and what type of under padding was used, you may have moisture coming from almost anywhere and seeping under the underpad to this spot … How are the downspouts on your house arranged? How to Pull a Section of Carpet Up After a Water Leak. There is a wet spot on the carpet outside my bathroom. Source of phantom wet spot on the parkway? Spot cleaning if necessary with mild soap (detergent) and a damp cloth. Here is the specific scenario where wicking causes a recurring spot. Just use a sharp knife and be careful, a gash down a thigh or arm is the last thing you need. This is on first floor, in living room facing front. Absorb moisture with paper towels, and clean with a damp cloth and mild detergent. Professional carpet cleaning when needed. We pulled up the carpet around the original wet spot last night--thick, soggy carpet is really, really heavy, and cutting it was irrationally difficult. A Severe carpet staining [image] due to furniture left on wet carpeting, accompanied by mold growth, is shown in this photograph. In Janurary, i pulled up the living room carpet and noticed some old water stains on the plywood subfloor (1/2" 2x4 handy panels on top of the old hardwood floor, which had been damaged in a fire some 50 years ago) The stains were dry so i didn't pay much attention to them. The plumber has been to the house; he looked under the house and says there are no water pipes in the area where the spots occur, and thus cannot blame it on leaking pipes. toss the moldy stuff and start over. Absorb moisture with paper towels, and clean with a damp cloth and mild detergent. Is the wet spot warm? Areas are by exterior door and then several spots in the center of the room – and there is no apparent linkage between the two spots. Keep a good ventilation system in the room, and you can switch on fans around the room to dry the process quickly. Sometimes the stain becomes the visual focal point of the room due to its size and discoloration. Remove dried spots immediately by scraping carefully towards the middle of the spot. Turn on ceiling fans, and bring in box fans or other portable fans to increase airflow. It needs to come up to be dried anyway, as your underpad will be toast. He also said the flooring underneath the house was not wet. and ask for help. These systems were built using copper pipes that after years of being in direct contact with concrete begin to corrode. We’ve pulled the carpet up by door and the wood flooring is completely dry and so is the padding when we check during rain. Someone in their. "The wall that has water damage at the very bottom, is it the uphill wall? Right at the entrance to a room, the carpet has a wet spot. Groundwater? Could this be the reason? Basement leaks are more common (, "They are open pipes that connect to your sewage drain system.". Badly draining irrigation? We're renting a 2-level townhome and have been here just under a year. Learning how to clean carpet without carpet cleaner starts with cleaning the carpet, and then moves on to tackling the stains. So it would be best if you certainly had around your home. If you own a dehumidifier, this should be used as well. Do not rub wet spots. The wall that has water damage at the very bottom, is it the uphill wall? At first, we assumed our little boys spilled something. or has a child decided to potty there. Circulate Air Will Dry Wet Carpet Faster. No visible wall damage and area around it seems to be dry. Some people are simply more sensitive to the volume and type of spores that we all breathe in 24/7. So first, look for any signs on the ceiling for water damage. A few weeks ago we noticed a wet squishy spot, about the size of a bath towel, in the middle of the living room. That is when I noticed it was not a small spot but that the carpet and padding was soaked through, and the wet spot was about the size of a hand towel. There is a bathroom next to it, but there is two feet of dry space in between. How do you determine whether it is a new spring or a possible sinkhole. Wet carpet can be a perfect breeding ground for mold, especially if the air is humid and the water remains in place longer than 48 hours. Are you affiliated with the University of Florida? This is on the ground floor of a townhome built on a slab. Pull up the carpet in the area, and check it out. My guess is an old hydronic system. Lastly, skim your Shop vacuum across the carpet to get any wet spots. On the second floor it is more than likely a leaky pipe that is running to the middle along where the sub floor buts up to each other. Along the other side of the nearest wall are both the dishwasher, AC unit and water heater. Here's what you need to know to dry out wet carpet. Large pieces of carpet, even if they're not waterlogged, are hell to move and I'm young and able-bodied. agree. Professional carpet cleaning when needed. Check there’s enough room under the floorboards for moisture to evaporate from the soil below and pass out through sub-floor wall vents. A couple of weeks ago, I noticed a wet spot on the livingroom carpet about the size of a dinner plate. Wicking does not happen with dry carpet. It is wet however in the doorway to our bedroom about 2 feet from the toilet. Seems like a small spot. Is there a pipe under the floor where the wet spots occur? Once your carpet cleaning efforts are no longer making helping the stains or spots, then it is time to start stain treatment. Since water can follow floor joists for some distance before surfacing, the leak may not be directly under the wet spots in the carpet. If the spot is isolated, away from any walls or doors, you will need to pull up the carpet. But, it is only wet in this one area, and the carpet goes from being really wet to really dry. All posts copyright their original authors. that doesn't sound good. Of course I initially thought it was just water being trailed out after a shower but it's not drying out, even seems wetter. At first, we assumed our little boys spilled something. They are multiplying daily. In February, one day very suddenly, the spots were wet. In most cases where water has saturated your carpet, your carpet padding … They appear clear, but are a little sticky to touch. 1 registered members (1 invisible), It sounds like a spring popped up under your house. Within a week or so, the "damp spot" progressed to a puddle 4 by 6 feet that a wet vac couldn't really keep up with. Could it be termite infestation? Our living room is carpet over carpet pad over concrete. Sweaty - do your homework on this one. Absorb moisture with paper towels, and clean with a damp cloth and mild detergent. A professional cleaner uses a cleaning wand to inject detergent solution into the carpet to clean the spot. You might want to call someone from the county or the city. Purple grape juice is spilled on the carpet. spiders. Install a damp-proof course. In two places, because the contractor recommended by my insurance company decided they could find the leak without doing any detection, even though the insurance company allocated money for the detection. Yes, I just looked at where you are on Google Earth, could be either except I don't know if sinkholes have water. We tried to dry it up, but it has stayed wet for a couple weeks. The spot was about a foot away from the wall where the breakfast bar and kitchen sink is located. ", Please let us know what happens! Squishy floors and mold may be in your future if you don't promptly address water damaged carpet. They won't dry up with towels, don't smell like the pets, and are getting bigger. We've had a slab leak before; the jackhammering through the slab didn't go through any plastic layer. Humidity is one of the biggest culprits of carpet buckling. Do not rub wet spots. This could be in the form of a wet spot, a stain, or perhaps even the leak itself. This level and the basement are very dry, even in heavy rains. Wet spots in the living room carpet. The most common type of carpet stain we encounter in homes and businesses are large, brown spots. It is in a position where it is very close to the external wall if our extension was not built, and is by the door going into the extension iyswim. There was a pinhole leak in the copper pipe to the sink. Rent a commercial extractor or a carpet cleaner to suck out as much moisture as … How to Diagnose "Clean" Areas of Carpet Surrounded by Stains or Discoloration "Clean" areas of carpet under furniture can also tell us what's been going on in a building. If its a slab on the main level or in a basement you could have a broken pipe or water could be intruding caused by hydrostatic pressure. No pets, no source of water, nothing falling from ceiling or walls - so it much be coming up through the floor somehow. Now I am just dreading. What is a "roof vent"? Join 6,463 readers in helping fund MetaFilter. [ 3 Answers ] These spots have come up suddenly. Gradual leak between second and first floors - any... How can A and B be connected if there's nothing to... Water leak at 4am, do I call my landlord now. +1 foundation specialist, stat. Check your entire ceiling, not just the surrounding area of the biggest water pool. It is on the lower level of a split level house built in 1976; this room is on a concrete slab. Right at the entrance to a room, the carpet has a wet spot. Vacuum, shake, and rotate the rug regularly. Wicking requires that the base of the carpet is wet. I am just worried about the floor being that wet … Gary Swart, Mar 30, 2007 Somebody at one of those places should know, or they be able to point you to maps that might tell you something. Yeah, my best guess was "we sprouted an artesian spring"--except I was joking... until I thought about it. At that point you can get a look under the padding and into the sub floor. If it were my basement, I would call a waterproofing company. (Mold) There is a tremendous amount of "hysteria" regarding the actual health risks associated with mold, however not even the federal government has (to my knowledge) established acceptable guidelines. it's a health hazard. the correct the moisture problem and you're good. Cutting into the subfloor around the moisture will give you access to any plumbing underneath. It is on the lower level of a split level house built in 1976; this room is on a concrete slab. In this next portion we are going to look at the different ways that you can lift the stain. Ask MetaFilter is a question and answer site that covers nearly any question on earth, where members help each other solve problems. This faces front of house. I agree you probably have a crack in the slab, and it was probably caused by bad drainage / poor grading so the slab has been wet for a long time, and now that it's breached the slab it's getting inside the house. Always use the standard floorhead, never the rotating brush, when vaccuming the rug. Remove dried spots immediately by scraping carefully towards the middle of the spot. Sounds like you need a hotel, or as a last resort, move in with the in-laws. Carpeting and other wet materials will dry faster when air is moving rapidly throughout the room. did you get a dog? With the AC i have seen this quite a bit where service has been done and during the process they have dislocated … WHY DO BROWN SPOTS APPEAR ON CARPET? A wet carpet in a flooded basement may be salvageable, depending on the water source, but you have to work fast before mold starts growing. We have got a wet patch on our carpeted floor about 6inches by 8inches wide. Or try the US Geological Survey, they have a program/website for Florida called. A couple days ago we noticed damp spots in the dining room carpet. Professional carpet cleaning when needed. You've certainly done a thorough job trying to figure this problem out. Since water doesn't run uphill, if there is a leak under the floor it should show even more water under the pipe that is leaking. Sudden wet spots on carpet. Water coming up through a crack in the slab or running over from the bathroom. They can fill the crack and guarantee the fix for a decent period of years. guests, and 3 Quick Google search didn't turn up anything that looked like I could pour water into it. I get 2-wet spots on the carpet in the middle of the boat while cruising from all the splashing under the boat. mix up a bleach solution in garden sprayer and whack it. Naturally we called a plumber to find what we were sure was a slab leak. It is especially common in four-season climates during the summer, because there is such a drastic change in the conditions from the cooler months. Doesn't smell bad either. Please register and join our community. How to Keep Wet Carpet From Molding. Why would there be water on my carpet in corner of room. Absorb moisture with paper towels, and clean with a damp cloth and mild detergent. Only registered users may post in our forums. Unfortunately, I think the only way you're going to get to the root of the problem is to open-up the slab at the wet spot and see what the hell is going on. Remove dried spots immediately by scraping carefully towards the middle of the spot. make sure to wear a respirator as you tear it up and ventilate the area well. Are you in an area prone to sinkholes? 27 Re: Mysterious Recurring Wet Spot on Carpet, http://www.shop.enaly.com/ozxa3500b-ac220240v-p-11.html, Powered by UBB.threads™ PHP Forum Software 7.6.2. Just noticed when cleaning and moved couch. it sounds like a large area and it will certainly exacerbate your sons asthma. The temporary fix was to rip up the carpet, knock a hole in the concrete slab, repair the leaking pipe, fill in the hole with quickcrete cement, … You don't say how old the house is, but many slabs were built with in-floor hydronic heating. Allow opening window(s) in the room. 3. We found the problem. If the piping is under the slab, you might have a leak in it. A wet and dry vacuum is an expensive cleaning machine. We started frantically vacuuming up the water a couple of times a day, and trying to find the leak. In highly humid climates, the moisture in the air penetrates the carpet and causes it to swell. We cut out the drywall from the room on the other side, cut out the bad section, and replaced the pipe. Fortunately the carpet pad just came up in chunks, so it wasn't nearly so bad. We tried to dry it up, but it has stayed wet for a couple weeks. From experience: smaller pieces make the job manageable. Question and wet spot on carpet in middle of room site that covers nearly any question on earth, where help... Time to start stain treatment basement/slab/foundation guy -- basically high-water-pressure areas like your house more common ( ``... 3 Answers ] these spots have come up to be dried anyway, as your underpad be. 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Bring in box fans or other portable fans to increase airflow the carpet has a spot. Dishwasher, AC unit and water heater sink is located and other materials... And bring in box fans or other portable fans to increase airflow it rains, living! Stains or spots, then it is time to start stain treatment a program/website for Florida called the.! System. `` might have a program/website for Florida called at least be able point! Rains, our living room facing front how to clean carpet without carpet cleaner starts cleaning... To your sewage drain system. `` areas like the DIRT want the water couple. Side, cut out the drywall from the room the house is, there! Carpet to clean carpet without carpet cleaner starts with cleaning the carpet outside my bathroom was `` we sprouted artesian!