I'm trying to help my neighbor, a first-time homeowner, deal with some issues brought on by Ida. Nothing earth-shattering, but one particular situation has me scratching my head.
He has a ground floor room that was carpeted wall-to-wall with a berber-style rug. This room got about an inch of water on the floor.

The carpeting was subsequently all ripped out. This room serves as a rec/play room, and his plan is to refinish the floor with the same type of poly/acrylic/aspartic floor covering similar to what's in his attached (under the living room) garage. So far, so good.

What we've discovered is that a previous owner installed a closet at one end of the room, over the berber carpet.

The baseboards were removed and the carpeting has been cut to the edge of the wall. This still leaves 3.5" or so of carpeting under the wall. Obviously not something you'd want to leave behind, especially in an area that is prone to getting wet.

I know the right way to fix this is to remove the remaining carpeting from under the wall. Just not sure the best way to accomplish that without making a major project out of it.

Thoughts?

I would cut the nails/screws going into the floor with a sawzall with a good metal blade. Pull the carpet out and install a plastic material under the wall and screw back down. You will probably have to open the wall up in a couple spots to re attach to floor.

Figure out the water problem before anything else would be the answer for me! Another thought, who would build a wall over carpet? Wrong over wrong in my opinion.

Interestingly, there is a sump hole in the room.
Of course, it's located IN THE CLOSET.

No pump, but a hole with gravel at the bottom. The floor at that point is a couple feet below grade. I'm guessing that the water may have welled up from the sump hole, but that's just a guess.

Additionally, this is one of those homes where the garage is effectively in the basement, and the driveway slopes down from street level to the garage. The garage got water in it also during Ida.
The room in question parallels the garage, and it runs nearly the width of the house along the back.

There is a drainage channel across the lowest part of the driveway, just before the transition from asphalt to concrete. My guess is that the volume of water from the storm overwhelmed the drain.

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Originally posted by rexles:
I would cut the nails/screws going into the floor with a sawzall with a good metal blade. Pull the carpet out and install a plastic material under the wall and screw back down. You will probably have to open the wall up in a couple spots to re attach to floor.

That is what I would do. Most likely will need to pry up the closet wall a bit as it will sag down. Typically one would use a powder actuated tool to nail the bottom plate to the concrete, so use a plastic that will not split. UHDP would be very good, same material as what is used in cutting boards.

What are the closet walls finished with (drywall, paneling, etc.) and are they finished on both sides?

I’d wind up tearing out the closet and doing it right. Also install a sump pump and piping to get any future water out. I’d prolly cut a largeish cut across the driveway and install drainage as a swail to prevent heavy rain entering the room in the future.

Do it right or don’t do it at all.

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Originally posted by DaveL:
What are the closet walls finished with (drywall, paneling, etc.) and are they finished on both sides?

Drywall on both sides.

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Originally posted by MikeinNC:
I’d wind up tearing out the closet and doing it right. Also install a sump pump and piping to get any future water out. I’d prolly cut a largeish cut across the driveway and install drainage as a swail to prevent heavy rain entering the room in the future.

Do it right or don’t do it at all.

Ripping out the entire closet was discussed - he'd rather not do that. I think we're looking at the plastic cutting board suggestion above.

Pump has been purchased. Looking at options to move the water away from the house now... terrain features are a bit of a complication.

The drain at the low point of the driveway is already in place. We just don't know where it drains to... seems to feed into a PVC pipe that points towards the back yard. Also assume that the downspout on the nearest corner of the house joins it. That's also close to the sump hole. So, potentially a fair bit of water going to someplace, but no idea where. The piping goes underneath a pretty big poured concrete patio.

As in the things yer grandpa said...

Do it Right, Do it now, Do it right now....

Doesn't his insurance cover this damage, if so and he got the check, then tear out the wall and replace it properly.

That carpet under the wall had to get wet and if you don't get it out, mold, mildew stink and then he'll have to fix it later.

Agree get the sump working and fix the drain problem in the driveway, yeah the odds of a Hurricane in NJ are pretty low, but a good nor'easter could flood it again...

I would try to pull, push, or otherwise force the carpet out without cutting the fasteners. It won’t take much to rip the carpet out from around the nails, at least compared to the rest of the work. If that works, great, use some composite shims or other material to fill the resulting gap, add the base trim, and be done.

If you have to cut the fasteners connecting the bottom plate to the floor you’re going to have to remove some drywall to refasten it. The only way I know to do that is with a ram set, tapcons, or concrete anchors, all of which require access to the stud bay. If you end up there I’d just go ahead and remove the bottom 18 inches of drywall from the inside of the closet - that patch job will be the same amount of work as scabbing in a bunch of pieces and it will look better.

Do you know whether the bottom plate is pressure treated? If it isn’t, be careful to do a good job isolating it from the floor. If it’s not treated I’d open the inside of the wall and replace the bottom plate entirely. You can do that without tearing out the wall (assuming it isn’t load bearing) and solve the carpet problem in the process.

Having had a bit of experience with a flooded house, I’d second the suggestion the sheetrock be removed from the entire length of the bottom of that inside wall. He’ll want to let that bottom plate get good and dry to prevent mold from setting in, if it hasn’t already. I’d use a fan to circulate air in the closet to speed the drying out process. The sheetrock has probably wicked water up and gotten soggy, too, and could get moldy. It may be that the bottom of the sheetrock around the entire flooded area should be replaced.

Has he talked to his insurance company?

I agree the easiest way is to cut the nails with a sawzall... pull the carpet pieces out and shim and re-nail. But it really sounds like there are going to be future moisture problems regardless.

Pull the baseboards
Sawzall the nails holding the carpet
Pull the carpet
Cut drywall 4ft from floor
Replace drywall
Replace baseboards

If there is insulation through the whole room behind the drywall, the whole room may need to be cut at 4ft to remove it and replace. If not there could always be a musty/ mildewy smell

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This still leaves 3.5" or so of carpeting under the wall .

What the hell kind of carpenter would install a wall ON carpet?

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Originally posted by smschulz:

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This still leaves 3.5" or so of carpeting under the wall .

What the hell kind of carpenter would install a wall ON carpet?

The previous homeowner. That’s why I’d gut the room and start over…no telling what else is jacked up