Damp (new) carpet after leak

jonny2510

Apologies if this should be posted elsewhere, but it's really the "Old Style" knowledge that I want to tap into here:

Well I can't believe this has happened. 2 weeks after having new carpets installed there's been a leak in the bathroom that leaked under the shower basin, under the partition wall, and into my new carpet

There is now a damp area of approx the width of the doorway going back 6 inches (where the door rod/gripper is). It seems wet-ish in some places, though I wouldn't say it's saturated. I suspect the dampness is coming from the chipboard underneath. Water also seemed to be coming up out of the sides of the vinyl flooring in the bathroom (as well as running down the walls in the hall downstairs) - this has now stopped.

We've isolated the cause of the leak (fitting a shower water flow reducer which has caused a part to "blow" off the shower mixer) which I'm due to fix tonight, but I'm worried about my new carpet, my new bathroom vinyl and the chipboard floor underneath it.

I've had the dehumidifier running overnight (which I aim to leave on for the next week or so). I've also left a fan running over where the carpet is damp, and plan to leave the windows open wherever possible to ventilate the area.

I was also thinking about maybe lifting the (fitted ) carpet from the door rod, where it is damp, to dry underneath it, and see the extent of the damage of the chipboard, but it seems the screws don't want to play nice, so this no longer appears an option.

I'd guestimate in total 12 litres leaked (based on the shower flow being approx 12 litres per minute), of which 4 litres were mopped up/ dried straight away, or have been de-humidified so far...

Is there anything else I should be doing?

Any OS tips for damp carpets to prevent mold/mildew/smells?

Anyone else suffered similary who'd care to share?

Am I naive hoping everything (including the chipboard) will dry itself, or do I need to take more drastic action?

zippychick

Jonny

So sorry to hear this happened. As this has dropped down the OS board, ive moved it to the home board as it's a home related query

Good luck

Zip

Ionkontrol

Lift the carpet and hair dryer the carpet.

pineapple

In the past (but with a large central rug) I've put old towels under the carpet and rotated them as they got damp.

phill99

Why don't you put it through your insurers? Thats what you pay premiums for.

loracan1

Do you know anyone with a carpet cleaner or wet'n'dry cleaner? That'd get some of the water up, not saying it'd sort it all out.

jonny2510

Thanks for the ideas.

There's no visible damage, so I don't think a need to get the insurers in at the moment.

I considered the carpet wet/dry vac, though as the carpet was never saturated didn't expect it would do anything.

Still running dehumidifier and a fan over the top along with the windows open. Just got finders crossed it will be ok.