Marin County
carpet cleaning
in all 11 cities

Marin Water, the Marin Municipal Water District, serves ten of the eleven incorporated towns and cities in Marin County: Belvedere, Fairfax, Corte Madera, Larkspur, Mill Valley, Ross, San Anselmo, San Rafael, Sausalito and Tiburon. It reports that about 75 percent of its supply starts as rain on the protected Mount Tamalpais watershed and the hills of west Marin, and that it adds Russian River water bought from the Sonoma County Water Agency. Its 2025 report lists hardness averaging 59 milligrams per liter in reservoir water, 3.5 grains per gallon, and 112 in Russian River water, 6.5 grains. The report leaves it open which of the two arrives at any one address.

Novato is served by North Marin Water District. In 2024 the district bought all of the Novato supply as treated water from the Sonoma County Water Agency, drawn from gravel beds beside the Russian River, and its report gives an average hardness of 91 milligrams per liter, or 5.3 grains per gallon, within a range of 38 to 123.

Whatever the number, the minerals are the same two, calcium and magnesium, and a thorough rinse counts for more than the supplier. Cleaner left behind in the pile pulls soil back; mineral film is mostly a tile, glass and fixture problem. Nobody can say in advance that one district’s water will make a carpet come out better or worse.

Two Marin towns have flood histories that reports describe plainly. A large part of southern and western San Anselmo sits on a natural floodplain, and heavy rain has put San Anselmo Creek over the center of town by up to 4 feet about every 15 to 23 years, most recently in the winter of 2005, with earlier floods in 1925, 1940, 1963 and 1982. Some floodplain homes were built on raised foundations. Novato has a history of flooding because it is low-lying and much of it was once marshland, and flooding is common in eastern Novato, from heavy rain and from levee breaches.

Water on a carpet is a race against the clock, and the Carpet and Rug Institute draws its line at 12 hours. Until help arrives, stay off the wet carpet, lift small furniture away from it and keep doors open so the air can move. When you phone the office, which answers around the clock, be ready to name the source of the water, how long it has been down and the rooms it reached.

The latest federal housing estimates (2020 to 2024) put Marin’s housing at roughly 112,000 units. Three of every four predate 1980, one in eight dates from 1939 or before, and the typical home was built in 1967. About 63 percent are detached houses, 19 percent are in larger apartment-style buildings of five units or more, and about 35 percent of occupied homes are rented. Ross has the oldest stock, with a median of 1938 and only 13 percent rented, while Larkspur is 53 percent rented and San Rafael 47 percent. Novato counts 644 mobile homes.

Older houses often come with their first carpet, floors under area rugs and upholstery handed down between households, so tell the office the fiber and the age when you call. In a rental, give the move-out date and say who is booking.