Flood!

marino420td · #1 10/30/2006, 10:38 AM

Well it took almost 3 years of reefing but it finally happened last night. My first flood! I cleaned my refuge and did a water change. Some free floating pieces of chaeto clogged the overflow in my refugium and it overflowed onto the floor. Probably about 20 gallons of water. Quite a bit of the water flowed onto my new carpet.

I sucked the water up from the floor and carpet with a commercial extractor (brother owns carpet cleaning business).

I also used this machine to spray freshwater on the carpet and suck that out. Hoping this will get most of the salt out of the carpet.

Is there anything else I should do? I really don't want a horrible, foul smell in my new carpet.

Steve Richardson · #2 10/30/2006, 10:44 AM

Hm.

Did you peel up any of it to see how sopping the pad is? (if it is?)

We had water in out basement once, and though we thought we had dealt with it, when I started to smell mildew I pulled up some of the carpet (which was dry to the touch) and found the pad was still soaking wet. We eventually had to yank it all out and replace it.

Not to scare you, but you might want to try it, just to be sure... if you can get at it to check. The hard part isnt getting the carpet dry... its the pad underneath.

Running a dehumidifier might also help suck some of the moisture out of it, though its hard for it to be effective with a tank in the room.

They also sell anti-mildew and anti-microbial agents that can be added to help protect agains formation of such things while it dries out. I would check with a your brother or perhaps a damage fixing (fire/soot/water) service to see if they would sell you something.

j0tca · #3 10/30/2006, 10:57 AM

Welcome to the Flood Club

I almost got into litigation due to a series of 15 G floods while I was on vacation once. My overflows weren't working properly (partially clogged) and my tank flooded every time the power went off. I was away for two weeks and work was being done on my apartment building causing the electricity to go off for 10 minutes or so twice a day (or so I was told) each time it would flood, then my autotopoff would fill it back up, then it would flood again. My specifc gravity was down to around 1.11 so in a 200 G setup, I must have lost 100G. The ceiling of the apartment below me collapsed in sections and the tenant below threatened legal action, so did my building. All in all, not the best welcoming party after a week in central america.

So, sorry about your carpet but, it could be worse

Will

Steve Richardson · #4 10/30/2006, 11:02 AM

Quote:

Originally posted by j0tca
Welcome to the Flood Club

...each time it would flood, then my autotopoff would fill it back up, then it would flood again. ...
Will

Yikes. Makes the 'power off test' seem like a good idea. That sounds like a nightmare scenario.

marino420td · #5 10/30/2006, 11:41 AM

I haven't pulled up the carpet. I was hoping I would not have to since this machine really sucks out the water. I'll do that as a last resort.

mwsmith15 · #6 10/30/2006, 12:12 PM

I would make this a FIRST action. Getting the pad dry is the most important part in keeping the smell down. After several floods (not due to tanks) I know this. The carpet can feel dry, but I assure the pad is not. Just lift the corner of the affected area and check. Better safe than sorry...

j0tca · #7 10/30/2006, 12:18 PM

Steve,

It WAS a nightmare scenario. The terrifying thing was that the tank was set up well, it wouldn't flood if the power went off normaly. Since I live in an apartment and was worried about the possibility of damage I even installed a second overflow near the top of my refugium (what was flooding) in case the first was blocked. A freak occurance blocked both of them. It was almost impossible to stop from happening, just really bad luck. If someone turns on a faucet I wake up from sleep now thinking the sound is water pouring onto the floor. Flooding is just something that we have to live with as a possibility, no matter how well we design our systems.

Will

Steve Richardson · #8 10/30/2006, 12:40 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by marino420td
I haven't pulled up the carpet. I was hoping I would not have to since this machine really sucks out the water. I'll do that as a last resort.

The good news is that you look like your on a cement floor, so you wont have to worry about rotting the wood underneath. (Except perhaps where it is up against some sheetrock/wall) Dont kid yourself though, your extractor may have world-class-suck, but the truth is it cant create a good enough vacuum to go through the carpet to get the pad dry. You should be able to pull up the edge near the wall without doing any damage to speak of.

Good luck with it. You do want to make sure you deal with it now, and not just cross your fingers and hope for the best.

(hey... looks like you have a pretty nice drill press there. Where did you find one in yellow? ;-) )

marino420td · #9 10/30/2006, 01:56 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by Steve Richardson
The good news is that you look like your on a cement floor, so you wont have to worry about rotting the wood underneath. (Except perhaps where it is up against some sheetrock/wall) Dont kid yourself though, your extractor may have world-class-suck, but the truth is it cant create a good enough vacuum to go through the carpet to get the pad dry. You should be able to pull up the edge near the wall without doing any damage to speak of.

Good luck with it. You do want to make sure you deal with it now, and not just cross your fingers and hope for the best.

(hey... looks like you have a pretty nice drill press there. Where did you find one in yellow? ;-) )

Only the best tools in my shop! ha ha.

I am on a cement floor because this is in my basement. I have not experience with carpet so I may have to call in a professional to help.

onehundred20 · #10 10/30/2006, 02:17 PM

sorry to hear that, i prefer tile for that reason

CyclistMT · #11 10/30/2006, 02:35 PM

Marino, I can't tell from your pictures but you will have one of two types of carpet. Glue down or tacked.

If it's glue down, it likely has an integrated pad and you can't simply pull a corner up since it's glued to the concrete. You're only option here is continued water extraction and fans. Other then that, it's replacing the carpet.

If it's tacked (stretched over tack strip), start in a corner and work a portion of the carpet off of the tack strip. You may need a screwdirver or something with a flat dull end to pry it from underneath the baseboard trim and tack strip. Once you have a section off, it should be a simple matter to pull the rest by hand. Yes, you will be taking a good portion off of the tack strip. However, you have to get the pad dry. It's not just the smell, it's about the mildew.

You can do all of this yourself, but once it's dry, you will need a kicker and a carpet stretcher to get it back into place. If you've never done that before, definitely get professtional help. You can easily tear carpet with the stretcher if you don't know what you're doing.

I don't install carpet for a living but my dad used to and I helped him on many a job. I've installed all the carpet in my house myself and have had floods in the basement as well so I speak from experience.

Good luck, I know how much of a pain this is.

marino420td · #12 10/30/2006, 03:00 PM

Ok, I took the advice and pulled up the carpet. Luckily it is not that big of an area (landing area at bottom of stairs and part of a hallway). You guys are right, the pad is absolutely soaked. I pulled up the padding that I could get to and hung it outside to dry. I propped the carpet up on buckets and anything else I could find and have a fan blowing under it. Hopefully this will work.

I could not get some of the padding up because it is hard to get to without totally removing the carpet. Will it dry this way?

CyclistMT · #13 10/30/2006, 04:58 PM

Quote:

I propped the carpet up on buckets and anything else I could find and have a fan blowing under it. Hopefully this will work. I could not get some of the padding up because it is hard to get to without totally removing the carpet. Will it dry this way?

Yes, active air circulation around all affected areas should work. It may take a bit longer but it should dry out.

Steve Richardson · #14 10/30/2006, 05:30 PM

Good job!

At least you know what you have under there now and can deal with it.

good luck.

mwsmith15 · #15 10/30/2006, 07:31 PM

You should be fine now. Let it be over night and it should be a bit damp at worse. You likely got to this qhuick enough that you can recover it. However, the pad is cheap. Might want to go ahead and replace anyway...

RamPuppy · #16 10/30/2006, 07:37 PM

just ha d a similar experience. somehow the top off hose to my tank got pulled out (i am thinking maintenance was in the room to fix a fan the day before, and didn't realize they had done anythin.)

anyhow... 100GPD RODI unit, 2nd floor apartmemt, 32 Hours (estimate) you do the math.

downstairs, cieling collapesed, capret was pulled out, they are re-drywalling the entire room. eek.

120 cube is gonig by by at the complex's request, but they are allowing me to have a 30 gallon w/ no auto top off system so it's not all bad.

marino420td · #17 10/30/2006, 11:29 PM

I'm not enjoying my tanks right now.

To top this off, my skimmer cup overflowed tonight as well. At least it stayed on the concrete floor so I just vacuumed it up with wet dry vac.

The carpet seems to be drying.

scaryperson27 · #18 11/04/2006, 09:06 PM

So tanks teach us about wildlife, wood work, electrical, plumbing, glasswork, acrylic work, and now flooring. This is a very educational hobby

marino420td · #19 11/04/2006, 10:58 PM

This was not the education I was looking for. It has been a frustrating experience to say the least.

Cuby2k · #20 11/05/2006, 04:13 AM

Oh man Marino that is a huge bummer. I just got around to checking this out and after reading it through I think you did the smart thing by pulling the carpet and pad up. I have lived through a couple of water bed floods back in the 80's and I know what a drag this can be.

Good luck!

marino420td · #21 11/07/2006, 01:08 AM

All is back to normal. I laid the carpet back into place today. Hard lesson to learn.

As good as new. Thanks for all of the advice.

adtravels · #22 11/07/2006, 01:39 AM

I had the same problem but My tank was ina school classroom around 50 gallons of water siphoned on to the classroom floor.
I was in a meeting and when I got back I opened the door and water went dont the hall in a mini tidal wave.
The janitors took alot of sweetening after that!!

Also the auto topoff on my tank a home stuck on and emptied a few gallons onto the floor pretty ****ed. i now put the auto topoff on a timer that only is on for three mins every 6 hrs so that the damage would be limited to a max of 3 mins of water ie 1 gallon, it also stops the switch from jerking when the level is inbetween on and off (if you know what I mean).