Our finished-basement carpet was soaked!

Dear George,

We had water in our finished basement soaking the carpet but no standing water or water above the carpet. The whole carpet & padding was removed & thrown out. What is the risk of developing mold in the drywall? How do we check for mold & prevent mold?

Signed,
Wet Carpet

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Dear Wet Carpet,

You have started off well. The carpet and padding was certainly the most likely host for mold, and you have already taken care of that.

Hopefully, you caught the problem before the wallboard wicked up the water. However, if your drywall did get damp, mold could be growing on the outer drywall surface or inner drywall surface in the wall cavity. A professional mold inspection (also referred to as a mold assessment) by Bye Bye Mold™ can include air sampling (even in wall cavities) for mold-spore counts, and thermal imaging, with moisture meter verification, to detect unseen damp areas.

Results of the mold assessor’s inspection and sampling will disclose if any indoor mold-spore counts are significantly higher than outdoor mold-spore counts and whether you were successful in catching the problem in time.

You can contact Bye Bye Mold™ 24/7 (twenty-four hours a day, seven days a week) at, 1 (800) 686-1992, or by e-mail, via the user-friendly Contact Us page.