Before

After

Storm-Damaged Carpet

Here are some basic rules to help you decide whether to keep or throw out your rugs and carpeting:

• You should discard wall-to-wall carpeting, most large area rugs and any rugs with foam backing if they were flooded with contaminated water. Getting them professionally cleaned generally isn’t worth the expense involved unless they are valuable rugs.
• If you want to salvage carpeting soaked with contaminated water, consult a SERVPRO professional. A steam-cleaning (hot-water extraction) method is best.
• You can salvage wall-to-wall carpeting soaked by clean rainwater if you have it professionally cleaned or you dry and shampoo it.
• Washable throw rugs usually can be cleaned in a washing machine.
• Check with your insurance company to make sure it will cover the cleaning efforts.

The general guideline for rain-soaked carpets is you should replace them if they were soaked for more than 24 hours. But if they were wet for less than 24 hours, you can clean them or have them professionally cleaned.