# I think I'm screwed!



## ahud (Aug 22, 2009)

I came back to my apartment to find that one of my ehiem classics was leaking. 35 gallons leaked onto my apartment floor and its carpet!

What do I do? If I hire a professional can they come in and get most of the water up?

The water has seeped under the carpet into the pad thats beneath the carpet. The water is only where the stand was sitting.

Please give me some ideas!


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## prov356 (Sep 20, 2006)

Not a good day 

I'd suggest calling a carpet cleaning company. They should be able to vacuum out a lot of the water. You might even be able to rent a unit.

Good thing we held off on those fish, huh?


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## smellsfishy1 (May 29, 2008)

Do you have insurance that covers this?
I think I would contact the manager of the building if it is bad enough that it needs hired help.


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## ahud (Aug 22, 2009)

I don't know how bad it is. It's on a roughly 76"x20" space on the carpet. I guess where the tanks compressed the carpet and pad the water stayed mostly in the depression. I plan on staying in this place for a few years so if I could just prevent mildew from happening I could just wait to have the carpet replaced.

Yeah prov glad we did and it's been an horrible day.

I don't really want contact the manager.

Sigh, darn my fish!


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## jrf (Nov 10, 2009)

Man, sorry to hear it. I'm in an apartment too. I can imagine how bad this sucks.


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## John27 (Jun 6, 2010)

I had 75 gallons leak out on my carpet, I rented a Carpet Express machine (Rug Doctor would work too but we rent both where I work, and Carpet Express seems to work better). It did a fine job of sucking it all up and the detergent will kill and prevent any mold. Right now you can't tell there was ever a drop, carpet is clear and the pad is just as "spongey" as it should be.

Good luck!

-John


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## ahud (Aug 22, 2009)

Thanks for the response John! whew, kinda makes me feel better. I think I am going to give one of the local carpet cleaners a call. I want to be positive there is no problems in the future.

I guess I should call management and tell them what happened and explain I am getting someone to clean and dry the carpet? I hope they would not insist on putting in new carpet at my expense.


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## prov356 (Sep 20, 2006)

If this is a new setup with no fish yet, I'd tear it down and move it so the carpet can dry out.

You also need to be concerned with whatever structure underneath may have gotten soaked. Is this a first floor slab or wood framing? Are there possibly electrical lines under there?

Do you have renters insurance, and did the manager ok the tanks?


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## ahud (Aug 22, 2009)

Yes the manager did give me the goahead for tanks.

Concrete slab beneath the carpet so no worries about structural damage.

I did not get renters insurance.

I just don't understand where the water went. Is it possible there is a drain in the cement slab? None of the carpet except for directly under the stand felt wet. Other places just feel damp.


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## prov356 (Sep 20, 2006)

That's good news (that you're on a slab). If it were me, I'd drain and move the tank. Get some type of carpet vac and clean the area. Let it dry for several days, at least, then set it back and try again. Think long term success.


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## ahud (Aug 22, 2009)

Yeah I broke down the tanks last night. I'm still debating if I should go professional or not. If I can get most of the water myself I would rather do that. It's going to be a huge ordeal to involve management, bet they will have to come look and have their own people check it out.

The carpet is mostly dry, its the pad underneath that is still wet.


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## prov356 (Sep 20, 2006)

35 gallons is a lot of water, so I'm also curious as to where it went.

Maybe call in the pros, get it handled, then go tell management not only about the problem, but show that you handled it.


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## ahud (Aug 22, 2009)

I found a place that gives free estimates. So a guy from that company is coming out this afternoon. The base charge is like $125 for cleaning, so hopefully if I do need to have something done it won't be to much more than that.

Keep your fingers crossed!


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## prov356 (Sep 20, 2006)

Wow, lots of $$ for that. They should do the whole house for that amount


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## ahud (Aug 22, 2009)

If they can get the carpet and pad dry for $125 I will be happy :thumb:

Thats cheaper than replacing the carpet lol. I may just use sponge filters from now on lol.


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## ahud (Aug 22, 2009)

Good news!

The guy came and sucked up about 15 gallons of water. He said that the slab is built in a way that water runs off. So a lot of the water drained off. It did not go into the wall thank goodness.


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