If it's a small area, and you have a big shop vac (wet/dry vac) and you have a few hours to spend, you can actually vacuum the water out of the pad too. It's just a long process. We did it once in a closet, and had it tested later with a moisture meter and it did work. You basically need to set the suction hose on a section, push down hard, hold it there for a few seconds, then move on to the next part, and repeat a few times. i.e. different from the usual vacuuming motion.

Anonymous wrote:Help! My washing machine just flooded and the carpet in the basement is now soaked. Is there anywhere I can rent a "wet vacuum" for a couple of days to dry out the carpet? I live in Bethesda so MoCo/NW DC preferable. Thank you.

it's not the carpet you need to worry about, it's the pad underneath. That needs to be replaced. cut or pull the carpet back, cut OUT the pad, and replace the pad and then replace the carpet. you may have to pay a carpet guy to do it -- cost you a couple of hundred dollars, but that's money well spent to prevent the mold that will inevitably grow.

pull it up, trash padding. Even if you vacuum tehre will be plenty of moisture underneath. We had some issues and had servpro put in some dehumidifiers and whatnot. And yes, tile.

op here - i am intrigued about the tile idea. would a carpet store also do tile, or who did you use to intall the tile? what kind of tile did you use? what are the stairs covered with? also, does the floor feel very cold in the winter?

We replaced the wall-to-wall carpeting in our basement playroom with tile a few years ago and kicked ourselves for not doing it sooner. Looks so much nicer, feels drier, etc. We have a wool area rug, but that is so much easier to keep clean, and if it were to ever flood, easy to pull up for thorough drying.

Since you are pulling up the carpet, give it some thought.

Anonymous wrote:Pull up carpet. Trash padding.

+1

Pull up carpet. Trash padding.

OP here - thanks, all - off to home depot! Since everyone was so quick to respond and helpful, do you have an opinion on whether I need to pull up the carpet to really get it dry? I'm concerned I will get the carpet itself dry but that the underlay will stay moist and start molding ...

I agree-- just buy one, they are good to have.

Why rent? They're inexpensive. You can buy a wet/dry-vac from Home Depot for as little as $30 for a small one or $45 for a mid-size 5 gallon one. I have the 5-gallon one and it's good for both wet and dry applications (such as vacuuming out the car or reversing to blow away some leaves).

Most rental places no longer carry these for rental because they're so cheap to purchase.

Home Depot

Call Strosniders.

Call a rental place. I'm in Arlington, and there's a true value hardware that rents them. You could see if there's a rental works or something similar.

Help! My washing machine just flooded and the carpet in the basement is now soaked. Is there anywhere I can rent a "wet vacuum" for a couple of days to dry out the carpet? I live in Bethesda so MoCo/NW DC preferable. Thank you.