How To Drain Water Under My Carpets, Is Are There Drains?

[amgman]

*I just noticed how bad I screwed up the title. Don't judge me. I am very tired haha.

Hi all,

My father left the rear window open on a rainy night and everything got drenched. Whenever I drive water swishes around. I've cleaned all the surface water, but its the water under the surface that is getting me. I am looking for drain plugs under the car, I know that the car isn't a boat haha, but I am hoping you all would know a good way to get rid of that water that is swishing around in and under the carpet. Any advice would be much appreciated.

Thank you!

[code58]

*I just noticed how bad I screwed up the title. Don't judge me. I am very tired haha.

Hi all,

My father left the rear window open on a rainy night and everything got drenched. Whenever I drive water swishes around. I've cleaned all the surface water, but its the water under the surface that is getting me. I am looking for drain plugs under the car, I know that the car isn't a boat haha, but I am hoping you all would know a good way to get rid of that water that is swishing around in and under the carpet. Any advice would be much appreciated.

Thank you!

You probably won't like my answer but it actually works. Take an awl and poke a small hole down through the carpet and floor. (The hole won't show in the carpet). It will take a while for it to drain all the water that will run out but your carpet pad is still going to be soaked and you can't leave it like that or you will probably have some nasty stuff end up growing there. Probably the best thing would be a wet and dry vac (might even be able to get the water out that way enough), but then you're going to have to pull the step plate trim and vacuum the water from the bottom and then putting a high power fan like a Patton blowing on the bottom with the carpet propped up or a small heater to dry it out completely. It has to be dried out!

[amgman]

You probably won't like my answer but it actually works. Take an awl and poke a small hole down through the carpet and floor. (The hole won't show in the carpet). It will take a while for it to drain all the water that will run out but your carpet pad is still going to be soaked and you can't leave it like that or you will probably have some nasty stuff end up growing there. Probably the best thing would be a wet and dry vac (might even be able to get the water out that way enough), but then you're going to have to pull the step plate trim and vacuum the water from the bottom and then putting a high power fan like a Patton blowing on the bottom with the carpet propped up or a small heater to dry it out completely. It has to be dried out!

Thank you so much for the advice. The only question I have is what is a "awl"?, I am assuming that is long and pointy but I don't know.

[mccldwll]

*I just noticed how bad I screwed up the title. Don't judge me. I am very tired haha.

Hi all,

My father left the rear window open on a rainy night and everything got drenched. Whenever I drive water swishes around. I've cleaned all the surface water, but its the water under the surface that is getting me. I am looking for drain plugs under the car, I know that the car isn't a boat haha, but I am hoping you all would know a good way to get rid of that water that is swishing around in and under the carpet. Any advice would be much appreciated.

Thank you!

Everything's soaked. Get it dried asap. I've never done it on a Lexus, but on every other car where something like this happened, I pulled out the entire interior and dried everything completely before reassembling. Anything else and you may be looking at some longterm funky mildew smells.

[afpj]

ShamWow...

Sorry, couldn't resist. Wet/dry vac, then with all the doors & windows open, a large fan, preferably heated, and let it run for a few hours. Do you have access to those large volume fans used to dry floors etc? That's what I had to use in the past for large spills, although you may have more liquid than a couple of big gulps. Good luck. I didn't have the know-how to unfasten all the trim to remove carpet etc, so I used the above as a decent workaround. However, I live in the desert and things dry out fairly nicely with a little heated air that's moving. Good luck.

[c4yourself2]

+1 On the wet/dry vacuum, then open all the windows/doors/hatch, it won't take long to dry if it is a sunny day.

Chuck

[code58]

You probably won't like my answer but it actually works. Take an awl and poke a small hole down through the carpet and floor. (The hole won't show in the carpet). It will take a while for it to drain all the water that will run out but your carpet pad is still going to be soaked and you can't leave it like that or you will probably have some nasty stuff end up growing there. Probably the best thing would be a wet and dry vac (might even be able to get the water out that way enough), but then you're going to have to pull the step plate trim and vacuum the water from the bottom and then putting a high power fan like a Patton blowing on the bottom with the carpet propped up or a small heater to dry it out completely. It has to be dried out!

Thank you so much for the advice. The only question I have is what is a "awl"?, I am assuming that is long and pointy but I don't know.

Just go to Home Depot or whoever your friendly local hardware store is and ask them for an awl. You are correct, it is a sharp pointed tool. IF you choose to drain the water that way BEFORE you dry it out completely (a must) , You can easily seal the holes up with a dab of caulk or silicone. As others have said, drying out completely is not an option, it's a must.

[code58]

ShamWow...

Sorry, couldn't resist. Wet/dry vac, then with all the doors & windows open, a large fan, preferably heated, and let it run for a few hours. Do you have access to those large volume fans used to dry floors etc? That's what I had to use in the past for large spills, although you may have more liquid than a couple of big gulps. Good luck. I didn't have the know-how to unfasten all the trim to remove carpet etc, so I used the above as a decent workaround. However, I live in the desert and things dry out fairly nicely with a little heated air that's moving. Good luck.

I don't think much of ShameWow, but this is the one application where I think it would actually do a good job. I had some of those years ago and they didn't do a very good job of any other drying BUT they are super absorbers!

[amgman]

Thanks for all the advice!

Now I just got to find time during the week after classes to get this done properly.

[LexRexBlue]

Beware of more damage than just mold! We had a leak from the sunroof. The water got under the carpet (not puddles) and affected the sound. You couldn't hear the radio, CD or tapes. After much drying (including by Lexus) and leaving it inside after the repair for drying it came back. No mold though.