Licensed and Insured Independent Pros
You are connected with an independent, locally owned outfit that holds its own license and insurance. Ask to see proof of insurance on arrival, and a reputable crew will have it handy.
Carpet that squishes when you step on it means the pad is full, and no box fan is going to fix that. A proper extractor physically pulls that water out of carpet and pad, which is much faster than waiting for it to evaporate.
Our referral line connects Commerce callers with independent, licensed and insured contractors who run truck-mounted and portable extractors. You get a written quote before the extraction wand ever hits the carpet.

Extraction is a pure equipment job: the power of the machine and the right tool head decide how much water comes out.
You are connected with an independent, locally owned outfit that holds its own license and insurance. Ask to see proof of insurance on arrival, and a reputable crew will have it handy.
Expect a written estimate listing square feet of carpet extracted, any pad disposal and equipment rental days. Many contractors bill the insurer directly once you have a claim number.
Carpet pad sitting in water begins to smell fast, which makes a quick response the whole ballgame. The dispatcher confirms an actual arrival window with a nearby crew before you hang up.
Crews bring truck-mounted units with far more vacuum lift than any rental, plus portable extractors for high-rise and tight units. Stand-on and weighted tools press body weight into the carpet so the pad gives up its water, not only the top fibers.
Every gallon the extractor pulls out is a gallon the dehumidifiers never have to deal with. Extraction removes water in liquid form, which is many times faster than turning it into vapor with air movers. Skip that step and the drying phase drags on for days longer than it needs to.
A wet vac works on the surface fibers and has nowhere near the suction of a truck-mounted unit. It also cannot reach the pad, which is where most of the water sits. Folks run one all evening and still end up with carpet that squishes.
Think about an ice-maker line behind the fridge that leaked into the living room carpet overnight. Since the water is clean, the crew can often float the carpet, which means releasing it from the tack strip, removing the pad and extracting the carpet itself.
Laminate is trickier. In a rental apartment where water seeped under the planks, it hides in the foam underlayment and against the subfloor. Meters and specialty mats show how far it spread, and any planks with swollen edges usually have to come up.
Field rule: clean-water carpet is often saved, while the pad below is usually tossed. Pad costs little to replace compared to carpet.
Water category can also worsen with time. A clean leak that sits for a few days in warm weather starts to grow bacteria, and that changes what can be kept. It is one more reason to call for extraction right away.

Each material holds water differently, so each one gets a different tool and technique.

Slow, overlapping passes with a weighted head continue until the clear wand shows almost no water. The soaked pad is typically cut out and removed, with the carpet reinstalled after drying.
With clean water, crews often float the carpet: release it from the strip and blow air under it to dry it in place. This saves the carpet and keeps it out of the dumpster.
Panel mats seal against the wood and draw water up from between the boards and out of the subfloor. When caught early, it often stops solid hardwood from cupping.
Water slips under click-lock planks and sits on the subfloor where you cannot see it. The crew maps the wet area with a meter, lifts planks where needed and extracts the subfloor below.
Sofas, chairs and rugs get extracted with smaller hand tools sized for fabric. Wool and handmade rugs usually get sent to a rug cleaning plant for full washing.
Once the water is out, the tech maps moisture across the floor and along the base of the walls. That map decides where drying equipment goes next.
Tell the dispatcher what got wet, what flooring you have and where the water came from. We route you to the nearest independent extraction crew and give you an arrival window.
The crew pulls up with a truck mount or portable extractor, wands, weighted tools and moisture meters.
First the tech identifies the water source and category, measures the wet area and decides what stays, then puts the quote in writing.
When the extraction is finished, you see the final readings, the drying setup and what was removed before you sign off.

Our ice-maker line leaked overnight and the whole living room carpet was soaked to the wall. The contractor I was connected with pulled the pad, extracted the carpet with a stand-on tool and saved the carpet itself. No smell afterward, which I was worried about.
I rent an apartment and water came in under the laminate from the unit's water heater closet. Through the referral line we got a crew that metered the floor, lifted the soaked planks and extracted the subfloor.
I ran my wet vac for hours and the carpet was still squishy. The contractor showed up with a truck mount and got more out of that room in a few passes than I did all night.
The washer drain hose came loose and water ran under the hallway hardwood while we were at work. The crew from the referral service set vacuum mats across the wood and ran them for hours. The floor cupped a little and then flattened back out as it dried.
Usually, when the water was clean and the carpet was extracted within a day or so. The pad below is normally thrown out, since it traps water and smell.
If sewage or floodwater soaked it, the carpet generally has to go.
A shop vac only pulls from the surface and has a fraction of the lift of a professional truck mount. The pad and subfloor are where most water lives, and a wet vac does not get there.
Pros use weighted tools that press water out of the pad while the extractor pulls it away.
Extraction itself often takes a few hours for a typical room or two. Drying afterward is a separate step that can take several days.
After checking the size of the wet area, the crew can tell you how long it should take.
It should not, as long as the wet pad comes out and the carpet is dried fast. Odor usually means water was left in the pad or subfloor too long.
Ask the crew whether an antimicrobial treatment is recommended for your situation.
Extraction physically pulls liquid water out of carpet, pad and floors with powerful vacuums and tools. Drying comes next, using dehumidifiers and air movers to remove the moisture that is left.
Good extraction makes drying much shorter.
The extraction contractors we refer are local, so the truck mount is not hours away.
Upstairs condos and apartments often need portable extractors because hoses cannot reach from the street. Houses and small storefronts usually get a truck mount parked right outside.

A dispatcher will route you to a nearby extraction crew.
Call +1-877-637-9008The faster the pad and carpet are extracted, the more you save. Call now for a local crew.