How to Dry Carpet After Water Damage

STOP THE WATER LEAK FIRST - Locate where the water is coming from and work quickly to stop the leak before attempting to dry out the carpet.

PULL BACK THE CARPET - Pull back the carpet for the entire area that is wet. Also pull back the carpet pad. Place towels between the wet carpet and the dry carpet that you are pulling it back onto. Later you will need to re-attach the carpet to the nail strip.

DRY WITH TOWELS - Soak up all excess water with towels. After you have the area as dry and you can possibly get it go to the next step.

FANS - You will need to place a fan aimed directly at the wet area. If the area is large you may need more than one fan. Make sure that the fan hits the carpet and the pad also so that they can dry out as well.

RE-LAYING CARPET - After the carpet, pad and underlying flooring is completely dry, you can re-lay the carpet and pad. First lay the pad down, next the carpet. If the carpet does not lay flat you will need to rent a carpet puller from your local equipment rental store. The carpet puller has a carpet gripper on one end and a pad for your knee on the other. Place the gripper end on the carpet and kick the padded end with your knee to stretch your carpet back into place.