Please help with water damage

[ctguy21]

So with the recent new England flooding my car decided it was a boat and went for a little swim. Fortunately the electrics are all sound, motor and tranny are all good ( i had a mechanic spend a day looking it over). The problem is its still soaked. The water came up to the seat bottoms.



Any advice on some things to try? I am going to put a dehumidifier in the back seat and let it run a few nights.

But as far as the leather (seat pads) and carpets go any advice short of replacing the interior?

[MirandaDetailin]

Sorry to here about that ctguy21. Vehicle Water Damage is horrible to deal with. It may need to have the padding and carpets removed and all parts vacuumed and blown dry. Carpets and padding will need to be shampooed/extracted or vacuum very well and hung to dry out completely. The seats will need cleaning and blow drying with a air compressor to dry out. Letting the heat and blow as your working on it should help also.

Hope things go well for you.

[ctguy21]

I`m hoping I dont have to replace them. A friend of mien is a fireman so the carpets may goto a hose dryer low heat that pulls almost all the moisture out. But i`m scared of the seats ruining the leather

[togwt]

Leather that has been soaked in water may become brittle and may be ruined due to the formation of water mark stains and blemishes. Water damage restoration for leather is very manageable using the correct products and methodologies. When leather becomes soaked or wet, the best way to dry it is to use clean, dry towels to wipe away the water. Never dry leather using a heater as this will cause the leather to shrink rapidly, causing further drying and cracking.



‘Cardboard hard leather’ - http://www.autopia.org/forum/autopia-detailing-wiki/142782-cardboard-hard-dehydrated-leather%92.html

[MirandaDetailin]

Yeah. I wouldn`t use a heater on the leather, compressed air and towels.

[Richard Grasa]

I`d pull the seats and the carpet. Carpet padding holds alot of water and takes a long time to dry, especially since it`s going to be getting colder again soon. I`ve seen cars that were flooded 6 months or more earlier and the padding is still soaked when the carpet is pulled up to figure out where the mold and mildew is coming from, while the carpet seemed completely dry. You should prob separate the padding from the carpet, then extract as much water as possible from the padding with a wet/dry vac or extractor, gallons of water may come out of them. Then hang everything up in a dry space and set the dehumidifier near them to help dry out. Or have your fireman friend use his heater on them. If you don`t make sure everything is completely dry, you will eventually have problems with mold, very unhealthy. You should be able to get the carpet to clean up ok with a good cleaning.

[Dan]

I agree, pull everything, get it out of the car, clean it and let it dry out, then evaluate.

[imported_Automania]

I agree, pull everything, get it out of the car, clean it and let it dry out, then evaluate.









STOP! before you begin pulling out anything from the vehicle, first determine its value. If the vehicle has substantial value and you have full insurance coverage you might want to get your insurance company involved.



Why? if the vehicle has been flooded with brackish/salty water, your insurance company will probably want to write off the vehicle as you will be facing long terms problems from rusting, wire harnessing issues, corrosion in seat rails, electronic modules etc.... if it is street water, they will pay for replacement parts and cleaning.



If you determine you have limited value, you might want a professional to do the job as water damage remediation is a lot more than pulling carpets and drying. If you decided you want to do this yourself STOP AND THINK ABOUT POSSIBLE DANGER to your health and safety! water from the street is considered black water, heavily laden with microbes, fecal matter, oil and the most impure substance you can think off. so when is the last time you had a tetanus shot, or hapatitis vaccine? are you allergic to mold? so you might want to make sure you wear proper ppe to include, gloves, masks etc.. protect cuts on hands if you have any and proceed with caution.

[Dan]

My assumption was that he had no insurance, otherwise he wouldn`t be asking.

[Jean-Claude]

If you must keep it this is what you should do.



Remove the seats, carpet and sound deadening rubber material. Steam treat all the exposed lower surfaces as well as the padding, seats and carpet. Purchase a product similar to Milban and apply it to the lower exposed surfaces. Leave it on for 3 days. Steam treat all those surfaces treated with Milban. Allow the surfaces to dry with the use of an air mover and dehumidifier(actually, use an air mover and dehu throughout the process). Purchase Drivepur system and use it.

[Ron Ketcham]

He can just mist all the surfaces(top and bottom of the parts/pads, etc) with Odor Terminator and that will take care of any residue bacteria and odor.

[togwt]

Professional detailers – as your you’re dealing with health-related issues, bear in mind that we are living in a litigious society, so document the process / procedures used on this type of remediation.

[MirandaDetailin]

Professional detailers – as your you’re dealing with health-related issues, bear in mind that we are living in a litigious society, so document the process / procedures used on this type of remediation.



Yes very true! Since dealing with your own vehicle it`s one thing. But dealing with any customers cars, document so as to protect yourselves also.