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.
If water beads up when you press on the carpet, the pad underneath is soaked and evaporation alone will be painfully slow. 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 Crenshaw callers with independent, licensed and insured contractors who run truck-mounted and portable extractors. The crew quotes the job in writing before the wand touches the floor.

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.
Wet pad starts to sour within a day or two, so speed matters more here than almost anywhere. 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. Weighted and stand-on tools put a person's body weight on the carpet so water is squeezed out of the pad, not just the fibers.
Each gallon removed by the extractor is a gallon that never has to be evaporated and captured by a dehumidifier. 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 shop vac falls short because it only pulls from the surface and has a fraction of the lift of a truck mount. It also never reaches the pad, and that is where most of the water is hiding. 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. Extraction mats and meters show how far it traveled, and swollen boards usually 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.
Time matters too: clean water left sitting for days in a warm house picks up bacteria, which shrinks the list of what can be saved. That is one more reason to get the extractor in early.

Carpet, wood, laminate and upholstery all trap water in their own way, which is why the tool heads change room to room.

The crew makes slow overlapping passes with a weighted tool until the wand stops pulling water. Wet pad is usually cut out and bagged, then the carpet is relaid once dry.
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.
Flat panels sealed to the floor pull water up through the seams and out of the boards under vacuum. When caught early, it often stops solid hardwood from cupping.
With click-together planks, water runs underneath and pools on the subfloor out of sight. 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 often go out to a rug plant for proper washing and drying.
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.
After extraction, the tech takes final readings, sets drying equipment if needed and walks you through what was done.

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.
Water from the hall closet in my apartment ran under the laminate before I noticed. 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 extractor the contractor brought pulled more water in a few minutes than I got in an evening.
Our dog knocked the line off the back of the washer and water ran under the hardwood in the hall before we got home. The contractor we reached through the referral line laid suction mats over the boards and ran them for most of the day. The boards cupped slightly, then settled flat again once everything was dry.
Usually, when the water was clean and the carpet was extracted within a day or so. The pad underneath is usually replaced because it holds water and odor.
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. Most of the water sits in the pad and subfloor, which a wet vac cannot reach.
Professional crews pair a powerful extractor with weighted tools that squeeze the pad.
Extraction itself often takes a few hours for a typical room or two. Drying afterward is a separate step that can take several days.
The crew will give you a time estimate after looking at the wet area.
Not if the pad is removed, the carpet is extracted thoroughly and it dries quickly. 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 is what follows, with dehumidifiers and air movers removing what is left behind.
Good extraction makes drying much shorter.
The extraction contractors we refer are local, so the truck mount is not hours away.
For upper-floor apartments and condos, crews bring portable units since a truck hose will not reach. Single-family homes and storefronts are usually handled with a truck mount parked in the driveway or lot.

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.