Having a soft carpet floor is like your home giving you a warm hug the moment you walk into the house.
If you begin to find wet spots on the carpet that don’t have a logical explanation, it can be a puzzling thing. You’ll want to get to the bottom of it. Over time your carpet can become smelly, moldy, rotten, and an oasis for bacteria.
Obviously, things like spills from children or accidents from pets are easy to diagnose. However, sometimes wet carpeting has sources beyond typical explanations.
Your carpet can be wet in your house built over a concrete slab due to poor construction and broken pipes. Environmental factors and cracks in the foundation can also make your carpeting damp.
If you have found your carpet unexplainably wet on several occasions, not just once, you must get to the bottom of the issue before it continues to worsen.
While some of these causes can be minor, others can slowly become a more expensive problem. Let’s take a closer look at what leads to wet carpet in a house built on a concrete slab.
Top Reasons for Wet Carpet on a Slab Foundation
- Cracks in Your Concrete Slab Foundation
Cement slab foundations can crack over time due to settling.
Even if the cement was high quality, changes in the soil due to settling can result in problems.
Cracks can enable the moisture from the soil to travel upwards onto the surface of your floor. However, that’s not the main reason why your carpet is wet without explanation.
- Too Much Moisture in the Cement Slab
Sometimes a wet carpet problem can be due to poor construction of the house. The concrete bond may also crack faster if your foundation is made with poor-quality cement or had too much water in the mix.
If a higher proportion of water is added to the mix and not given enough time to dry, these slabs can be weak and prone to cracks. This settling places pressure on the pipes, resulting in a water leak inside the foundation.
The rising moisture will travel up and bleed out of the concrete floor, making your carpet wet.
- Plumbing Leak
A slab leak is one common reason the carpet on a concrete floor may get wet even if something wasn’t spilled. Slab leaks occur when a pipe within the concrete slab is broken and leaking. A small leak may not get discovered for a long time and can eventually damage the foundation.
Wet carpets are one major sign of even a pinhole leak in which case the water source will flow up to the carpet surface, or even into drywall creating a damp wall if nearby. This could be due to a copper pipe reaching its replacement age , or simply minerals from hard water.
You should call a plumber immediately if you find damp spots on the carpet that aren’t easily explained, a higher water bill, and any other signs of a slab leak . If you suspect this, it will require professional help to fix a slab leak .
So, call us if you suspect your wet carpet problem is due to a water leak inside your foundation.
- Negative Grading Around House
Negative grading can be a major construction issue for any house. If the level of the house is lower than the surrounding area, groundwater will flow toward the home instead of away.
Excessive groundwater can deteriorate your foundation if your house sits in a flat area with a poor drainage system. If your foundation has exterior cracks, the pooled water may eventually seep through the damaged foundation and into your home.
If your home is slab on grade, this water may lead to wet carpet.
Poor grading can be a big problem if rainfall is higher than normal and the runoffs pool around the house and sits for a long period of time. This is why it is crucial to have a proper drainage system surrounding the house.
- Using the Wrong Vapor Barrier or Retarder
No matter how solid a building material it will still allow some moisture to pass through. There is an opportunity for moisture to buildup if there is nothing to protect the concrete from outdoor elements.
Concrete is porous and lets water pass through, so you need to install water retardant that limits the amount of water that can pass through.
Unlike a water barrier, a water retarder allows a minuscule amount of water to pass through. You need to have a vapor retarder with a perm of 0.3 and install it over a granular fill separating concrete slab groundwater.
The wrong type of retardant will let in excess moisture through the concrete, leaving you with a wet carpet. So, you must ensure you use the right type of vapor retarder.
What to Do if You Find Your Carpet Wet Frequently?
If you frequently find damp spots on your carpet, you must get to the root of the situation. While you can change environmental factors, you can ensure that you take the necessary steps to prevent molding and water damage.
Use a concrete sealer to block any large holes if your concrete floor is too porous. If the water is due to condensed humidity, make sure to aerate the rooms more often to ensure that the water dries up faster to avoid molding.
Does your carpet smell of mildew? Use baking soda to treat the carpet, and you might even have to cut out sections of the carpet if the water damage is too deep to fix. Keep windows open so that more air and sunlight come into your house to prevent molding. If the water is leaking near walls, and you notice paint bubbling as well, consult a plumber to find the roof of the problem rather than just hiring a painter to cover it up.
If the wet carpet on the concrete floor is due to poor grading, you might need to get the grading fixed or get professional help to improve your outdoor drainage system.
Finally, if slab leaks are behind your wet carpet problem, you must let a professional handle them. They are not always an emergency but do require professional attention soon. A plumbing leak is not something you can DIY; attempting to do so can damage your foundation.
Give us a call , and we can help with leak detection and repair, ensuring that your carpet remains dry throughout the year!
FAQ’s on Wet Carpeting
Why is My Concrete Floor ‘Sweating’?
Your concrete floor might “sweat” if the surface of your concrete floor is cooler than the humid air around you. This is because the moist air hits the colder surface, causing the moisture to condense against the concrete. This condition is “sweating” and often occurs during hot and humid days.
Can Moisture Come Through the Concrete Floor?
Yes, moisture can come through the concrete floor. Since concrete is porous and permeates water, the moisture can travel through the capillaries and migrate upwards to escape through the surface.
Why is My Carpet Wet After Heavy Rain?
Rainfall creates puddles or pools of water around the house. If the house has poor grading, it might soak into the foundation and make your carpet wet. The water can also come in without footwear or leak through windows and ceilings if they fail to keep out the rain.
