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Fixing a Water Damaged Hardwood Flooring

Flooring is at a greater risk for permanent water damage and mold growth in case you don’t take care of moisture immediately. Hardwood flooring will absorb moisture quickly due to its porosity. Besides response time, effective hardwood flooring water damage repair depends on the sort of flooring, wood, and complete, method of installation, amount of moisture, and replacement value. 

For hardwood flooring water damage restoration, think about hiring a professional disaster restoration firm. They have the necessary knowledge and expertise and utilize specialized equipment for drying. However, if you wish to repair hardwood floor water damage yourself, check out the hints below.

The best way to repair hardwood flooring water damage

  • Halt the stream of water if the flood occurred because of a burst pipe, washing machine failure, or water heater failure.
  • Turn off the power to the affected area until the water has been taken away.
  • Evaluate the damages before beginning the recovery to find out whether to clean up or replace the floor. Take photos, list damaged items, and reveal them to your insurance carrier.
  • Eliminate any items (carpet, furniture, etc.) on the floor and take them to a sterile location.
  • Open doors and windows to allow moisture to evaporate more quickly.
  • Start eliminating the excess water with a wet/dry vacuum cleaner or with mops and older fabric. If the water level is heavy, use a pump to drain water. Ask someone to help so it is possible to finish the task faster and prevent additional damage.
  • Use dehumidifiers, heaters, and fans to accelerate the drying process. Set them on top of an elevated surface at the calm area and close the windows. Direct the lovers towards the ground’s surface. Scrub the floor with clean water and keep washing the ground.

When dealing with a flooded hardwood floor, act quickly to save your flooring from permanent damage and mold growth. Contact a professional flood remediation company, for example, PuroClean Smithtown, that can quickly mitigate the harm and implement the most appropriate course of action. Additionally, learn how to prevent hardwood flooring water damage later on.

How Professionals Restore Hardwood Floor Water Damage

Determining the type of flooring and installation

Inspection is always crucial when beginning to fix hardwood flooring water damage. Hardwood flooring comes in many different species, including walnut, cherry, walnut, walnut, and cherry. A growing number of exotic species are used in floors. Every type poses distinct challenges in the drying process due to the varying levels of moisture absorption.

Additionally, there are varieties of flooring that look like wood but aren’t. These floors will occasionally have a laminate onto the surface along with a particle board substructure. When moisture seeps beneath these floors, drying is extremely hard. The inability to wash these surfaces is due to moisture being trapped beneath the laminate, which functions as a vapor barrier.

Professionals will also assess the initial installation method of their hardwood flooring. Original installation may be nailed, glued, or set up at a floating procedure.

  • When prefinished flooring has suffered from water damage, the nails can lift.
  • If the ground has been glued on the substrate, the moisture can release the glue.
  • In the case of floating kind flooring, it may not be true wood and might be a laminated product. Tongue and groove hardwood floors may “cup” after absorbing moisture.

Once the technicians decide the wood floor type and installation method, drying can start. Using surface or subsurface drying methods and suitable dehumidification, technicians can force airflow beneath the surface of the ground (in a positive or negative manner) to remove this moisture. It could also be required to access the floor from below for faster drying.

Powerful drying of a hardwood floor is a gradual process. It is going to occasionally take seven to 10 days for the ground to release enough water to stop the forced drying procedure. Eliminating all the consumed water in the ground is pricey and nature has to be allowed to assist in the process.

The hardwood drying continues till the wood’s moisture levels reach four percent of their floor’s dry standard. At this point, nature will get rid of the rest of the water, although gradually — anywhere from three to six months. Education in this process is essential for a successful occupation. Allow the restorations professionals of PuroClean to help you wash your hardwood flooring properly.

Repairing the end

Once the hardwood floor is dry, there might still be damage to the floor finish. Finishes, like waxes and polyurethane, may inhibit the flow of the moisture that is absorbed. They will sometimes have to be eliminated in the drying process to allow for moisture removal and water extraction.

If the hardwood floor cups slightly, the end may check and crack due to the movement of the wood product. This is a normal portion of the drying procedure. Once the floor is completely dry, the flooring can be sanded.

Hardwood floor drying is a specialization. PuroClean restoration professionals have the knowledge to correctly evaluate the many types of floors and also have specialized equipment to fix hardwood flooring water damage.

To summarize, here’s how to repair hardwood flooring water damage:

  • Evaluate and document the damage.
  • Apparent the flooded area.
  • Clean the dirt and dry the ground utilizing air-blowing equipment and dehumidifiers.
  • At the end of the procedure, if the floor shows signs of cupping and crowning, consult with a hardwood flooring installer to find the floor back in shape.
  • Alternatively, call a professional restoration firm to do all this hard work.