Carpet cleaning (and drying) - effect on chipboard?

Hi everyone,

We had our upstairs carpets professionally cleaned this afternoon - about 8 hours ago. They still feel very damp. This has made me a bit concerned about the chipboard underneath - surely getting the carpets that wet could damage the sub-floor? Of course I understand that the carpets needed wetting in order to be cleaned, but I was expecting them to be dry again within three or four hours :o Is this normal?

Thanks,

Laura

Comments

  • Furts
    Furts Posts: 4,474 Forumite
    On building sites countless folks will have spilt water on chipboard with no ill effects. Also wet plaster being left on it, mopping and sloshing of finished floors and such like. However I ponder over your question, because it raises a couple of concerns. Depending on when your home was built it may have water resistant chipboard (good) or ordinary (not so good ).

    There is also the issue of modern underlays. I suspect the 11mm foam will retain water like a sponge.

    All round a bit of a worry, but you cannot turn back the clock. The bottom line is cross your fingers, air off the rooms, put heaters in there and next time do not run a risk by getting the carpets cleaned.
  • Thank you Furts. When we've replaced carpets in other rooms the chipboard was the green type, so fingers crossed it's that throughout.

    If the underlay has trapped water, are we likely to get problems with mould? Or should it be OK if it's not damp for a prolonged period (seems to be drying nicely now - 24 hours later)?
  • Furts
    Furts Posts: 4,474 Forumite
    I don't think it will be wet for anywhere near long enough to cause a mould problem. Chipboard is quite robust. Wet boards are soft, but when it dries back it is still reasonably strong. The only risk I picture is if wet for a while the boards could start to distort, or loose there flat surface. Here if you keep off the floors til dry (fingers crossed!)you should be OK.
  • firefox1956
    firefox1956 Posts: 1,548 Forumite
    Contact the company that cleaned the carpets.
    They will tell you what to expect in terms of drying times depending on what method they have used to clean the carpets.
  • Jonesya
    Jonesya Posts: 1,823 Forumite
    Part of the Furniture 1,000 Posts Name Dropper Combo Breaker
    If the carpet cleaner is anything like a VAX then I can't imagine the water would be left in the carpet long enough to soak through into the boards below.

    In a VAX carpet cleaner the cleaning solution is sprayed out with the vacuum running, so it's sprayed into the carpet and drawn through the fibres and back up the suction hoze, so it doesn't sit or soak into the carpet, just wets and washes the fibres.
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