Consequences of an overflowing toilet...

[concretegardenstx]

Backstory:

My inlaws live with us. They use the secondary bathroom at the end of the hall. The toilet overflowed, and they did not tell us (we never use their bathroom). Bathroom has carpet. Family's idea of cleaning up the water is throwing down some sheets/blankets to mop up the water.

So this happened on Thursday, and I find out about this last night. I am NOT happy

I'm wondering if anyone has an idea of what kind of situation I'm in, how much damage is done? I have a carpet cleaner, but since it's been a few days I don't know how much good that will do, other than maybe taking care of the odor. My bigger concern is if the floor underneath is ruined, and how can I tell. Also, I'm worried about mold! And though it feels nice in the summer, I think that the vent duct being right in front of the toilet is a dumb design. I'm worried that some toilet water has gotten in the ducts.

If I had more money and time I would pull up the carpet, put down cement board and ceramic tile. I had no idea how much remodeling could be done until I started looking through the forums, so I think I'd like to move the duct when I do it.

I guess I just need some reassurance that this has happened to other people, and it's not the end of the world?

[bobfather99]

Short term, do whatever you can to dry it out (shop vac, fans, open the windows, etc)
Id also check out the toilet, use a toilet auger to make sure theres no partial blockages.
Check the water line going in to the toilet for leaks as well.

Long term, rip the carpet out and replace with better flooring if you can. Id leave the ductwork as/is for now, to keep the costs low. You can pickup something like vinyl tiles for less then 99c/sq ft.

[countrydan]

was it a ton of water left to overflow? we had both toilets break on us before we bought our home cause of freezing and there was no damage from the water that sits in the toilet that was now on the floor. granted this may only be a gallon or so? also below our carpet in the bathroom was sheet linoleum so you may be ok if you can get the soaked carpet dried up quickly.

we have particle board, not sure if you do too. if you have plywood/osb i wouldnt be as concerned..

good luck.

[ponch37300]

Been there before! Actually it happened to my girlfriend just before we started dating a longtime ago. The drain pipe froze and water backed up made a huge mess. She was single at the time and didn't know much about what to do other then try and soak up the water. Fast forward a half a year or so and I ripped out the whole bathroom to get rid of the mold, replace the particle board floor, and replace the ruined insulation in the under belly that had gotten wet. Luckily under the carpet was linoleum flooring so the only bad spot in the floor was by the toilet. It also had a flexible heat duct that got wet so that was ruined.

You won't know the extent of the damage until you start pulling things up. But you can almost bet that if water dripped down you will have some particle board damage and some insulation damage in the belly. If water was let standing touching the drywall which is paper then the drywall soaked up the water and will start growing mold, mold loves dark and wet locations and the paper is food for it.

[Greg]

I would start by getting a good air flow through the room to dry things out, if you have a dehumidifier I would use that too. If you can determine the type of subfloor that you have it will give you an idea of what you may be facing. You might be able to pull up a register and get a look. If it is particle board, plan on doing a patch job not too far down the road (As soon as you notice any soft spots). Plywood or OSB you might be OK.

Generally speaking ceramic tile & Mobiles just don't play well together. Mobiles are designed to flex slightly, tiles, not so much.

Greg

[UmpJJ]

I'd replace the carpeting. Bathrooms are small and quality remnants are cheap. Once you pull up the old carpet you can see if there is other damage that needs to be addressed.
I put new carpet in my bathroom every couple of years!

UmpJJ

[Greg S]

No bathroom should ever have a carpeted floor in my personal opinion. It is a breeding ground for germs and mold under normal conditions but around a toilet it is guaranteed to be both especially following a overflow.

Remove the carpet immediately even if it means living with a bare subfloor temporarily.
I would then instruct your in laws that they need to find alternate accommodations. Time for them to grow up and move out on their own.