Water Damage on an Oriental Rug

Water Damage on an Oriental Rug


The beauty of an Oriental rug can be destroyed forever if proper care is not taken to protect the rug from long term exposure to water.  Most varieties of Oriental rugs have a  wool pile and these rugs can be cleaned and dried thoroughly by an oriental rug cleaner and never have any problems.  Sometimes you may have some unstable colors to deal with but if the rug is being cleaned by a knowledgeable rug cleaner they should be able to control that in their wash process.  So the normal cleaning and washing process does not harm a rug, however here are some instances in which water could harm your rugs.
Many rugs have cotton warp and wefts.  The warps run from end to end on the rug and are what make up the fringe of a hand knotted rug.  The warps are also what the knots are tied to creating the pile. The weft runs over and under the warps and between rows of knots.   This gives the rug strength from side to side. This cotton foundation can be weakened, and sometimes actually rotted, if the rug stays wet for an extended period of time without being properly dried.
In our oriental rug cleaning plant, we commonly see such damage from potted plants being placed directly on a rug. When the plant is watered either the pot leaks or the plant is over watered and some drains out the bottom of the pot and the rug under the pot stays permanently damp. Within a couple of weeks the foundation of the rug can become so weak that chunks of the rugs pile can be torn from the area by hand.  If you put a potted plant on or near a rug, put it on a stool, or something that is up off the rug.  This will let you see under the pot and make sure the rug stays dry as well as allowing for ventilation.
Another form of water damage would be caused by using a rug directly over a damp concrete floor. Even though the concrete floor is not noticeably wet to the touch, there can be enough moisture to allow the warp and wefts to degrade.  A concrete slab sitting on the ground will naturally have water vapor coming up through it.  If a rug is laid directly on the concrete, then the rug can absorb the water vapor coming out of the concrete.  Over time this will affect strength of the rug's foundation. A rug that has this kind of damage will often feel peculiarly stiff when moving it around. The rug could be so stiff it would make it difficult to roll.  A rug with this kind of damage will also have cracking and popping noises when the rug is creased or folded.  This noise is actually the warp and weft fibers breaking.  As a note, rugs placed on top of tile, wood, or even carpet do not generally have these problems.
The good news with any of these damaged rugs is that an experienced rug repair person can reweave the dry rotted or damaged areas of your rug, thus allowing you to be able to continue to enjoy your rug for years. 

IICRC develops new standard and reference guide

In a May 8 press release the Institute of Inspection, Cleaning and Restoration Certification (IICRC) announced the ‘formation of consensus bodies for the development of a new BSR-IICRC S210 Standard and Reference Guide on Dimensional Stone Maintenance and Restoration and the revision of IICRC S300 Standard and Reference Guide for Professional Upholstery Cleaning.’
“As new materials and processes are introduced into our industry, we remain committed to ensuring the IICRC’s standards provide credible, up-to-date information,” said Mili Washington, IICRC standards director. “Through the development of the S210 standard, we are upholding our promise to the industry to establish an international standard of care and provide our registrants with a knowledgeable industry voice and resource.”
‘The consensus bodies will meet approximately two times per year, with most of the work being completed online and via conference calls. The new BSR-IICRC S210 standard will encompass the initial, routine, periodic and restorative maintenance methodologies for dimensional stone flooring and fabrication and is set to be completed in approximately 36 months.’
And ‘the updated IICRC S300 standard for professional upholstery cleaning is set to be completed in approximately 24 months.’
Those interested in submitting an application to participate on the BSR-IICRC S210 or IICRC S300 consensus bodies, please contact Mili Washington at mili@iicrc.org
www.iicrc.org

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Insurance companies could save millions with one change

For years I have been talking about how insurance companies could save a lot of money.  Usually they try to do this at the cost of contractors out there trying to make a living but there are other fundamental shifts in thinking that could save them a lot of money.  Today I want to talk about one of them, mitigation company vs. reconstruction company.

In the restoration industry there are a lot of people in the industry that own companies that do water restoration and reconstruction.  In my opinion, this is a huge problem and the cause of many needless cost overruns.  Here's two scenarios to illustrate my point.

#1 fresh water leak occurs and the insured calls a general contractor they know who also does water restoration. The contractor comes in and convinces the insured that everything that is wet needs to be removed.  So they proceed to remove drywall 2 feet high, baseboards, carpet and pad, cabinets, door jambs, etc.  So when they start to dry all they have left to dry is studs.

#2 fresh water leak occurs and the insured calls a company that specializes in mitigation only.  They come in and see solid wood baseboards, plywood cabinets, carpet and pad that has only been wet a few hours and they tell the insured that while they may have to remove some toe kicks under the kitchen cabinets that they will be able to dry the rest of the structure in tact. This can be done through the use of quality water extraction tools, axial air movers, and highly advanced low-grain refrigerant dehumidifiers.

Which scenario is going to cost less to get back to pre-loss condition?  Of course #2 is, however there are so many construction companies that can not make a decent living without getting water restoration jobs to fuel their construction company that drying is becoming a dying art.  There is no incentive to dry an item in a home if you make money off of pulling it out and replacing it.  Most of these companies have crews they need to keep busy and drying a whole house intact doesn't help keep the crews busy.

What I think needs to happen is the industry needs to have only mitigation companies and only reconstruction companies.  Both are needed, the problem comes in when one company does both.  It's a conflict of interest and should not be allowed to occur.  Implementing this would be difficult and hard to police and enforce but if it did occur it would save insurance companies millions which would lower all our premiums.  I also understand that this is America and you shouldn't be able to tell companies that you can or can not do stuff like that so it will probably never happen.

However, with today's advancements in drying equipment, training, and industry standards drying structures completely intact has been possible for over 10 years now and we still have a large portion of the restoration industry that refuses to do it.  Change will continue to be slow until more insurance companies start looking for companies that can dry an entire structure intact rather than reconstruct it.

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Differences in Refrigerant dehumidifiers

When talking about refrigerant dehumidifiers, there are two types.  There are standard dehumidifiers and there are Low Grain Refrigerant (LGR) dehumidifiers.  LGR’s are different from standard grade refrigerant dehumidifiers because they are much more energy efficient and the way they are built means they can pull more water also. LGR dehumidifiers use a double cooling system to lower the moisture laden air temperature once inside the dehumidifier so more condensation can form on the internal cooling coils. As condensation builds up on the coils, the water will drip in to a collector pan and then drain down into a discharge pump, or a hose can be run directly down into a floor drain.  LGR dehumidifiers provide the best moisture removal for refrigerant dehumidifiers. These dehumidifiers  produce air that is generally about twenty degrees hotter than when it entered the dehumidifier.  The air will also be dryer and with less moisture than standard refrigerant units.