As in most water-related property damage, time is vital. Flooring is at a higher risk for permanent water damage and mold growth in case you don’t take good care of moisture immediately. Hardwood flooring will absorb moisture quickly due to its porosity. Besides answer time, successful hardwood floor water damage repair depends on the sort of flooring, wood, and finish, method of installation, amount of moisture, and replacement value.
For hardwood flooring water damage restoration, think about hiring a professional emergency restoration firm. They have the essential knowledge and experience and use specialized equipment for efficient drying. But if you want to repair hardwood floor water damage yourself, check out the tips below.
How to Fix hardwood flooring water damage:
- Stop the stream of water if the flooding occurred because of a burst pipe, washing machine failure, or water heater failure.
- Switch off the power to the affected area until the water has been removed.
- Assess the damages before you begin the recovery to determine whether to wash up or replace the ground. Take photos, listing damaged things, and reveal them to your insurance carrier.
- Remove any items (carpet, furniture, etc.) on the floor and take them to a sterile location.
- Open doors and windows to allow moisture to evaporate faster.
- Start eliminating the excess water using a wet/dry vacuum cleaner or with mops and old cloth. Ask someone to help so you can complete the task quicker and prevent additional harm.
- Use dehumidifiers, heaters, and fans to speed up the drying process. Place them along with an elevated surface at the flooded area and close the windows. Direct the fans towards the floor’s surface. Rinse the floor with clean water and continue to dry the ground.
When dealing with flooded hardwood flooring, act quickly to save your flooring from permanent damage and mold expansion. Contact a professional flooding remediation firm, for example, PuroClean, that can quickly mitigate the harm and implement the most appropriate course of action. Also, learn how to prevent hardwood flooring water damage in the future.
How Professionals Revive Hardwood Floor Water Damage
Deciding the Sort of flooring and installation
Inspection is always crucial when beginning to repair hardwood floor water damage. Hardwood flooring comes in a variety of species, including walnut, cherry, walnut, walnut, and cherry. More and more exotic species are used in flooring. Every kind poses distinct challenges in the drying process because of the varying degrees of moisture absorption.
Additionally, there are varieties of flooring that look like wood but are not. These floors will sometimes have a laminate on the surface along with a particle board substructure. When moisture seeps under these flooring, drying is extremely hard.
Pros will also evaluate the initial installation procedure of their hardwood flooring. Original installation might be nailed, glued, or set up at a floating method.
- When prefinished flooring has suffered from water damage, the nails can lift.
- When the floor has been glued on the substrate, the moisture may release the glue.
- In the case of a floating kind floor, it may not be authentic wood and might be a laminated product. Tongue and groove hardwood flooring may “cup” after absorbing moisture.
Once the technicians decide the timber floor type and installation method, drying can begin. Using surface and/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 may also be necessary to access the floor from below for faster drying.
Effective drying of a hardwood floor is a slow process. It will occasionally take seven to ten days for the ground to release enough water to halt the forced drying procedure. Eliminating all of the consumed water in the ground is expensive and nature has to be allowed to help 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 slowly — anywhere from three to six months. Education in this method is crucial for a successful occupation. Allow the restorations professionals of PuroClean disaster cleanup to allow you to dry your hardwood floors correctly.
Repairing the finish
Once the hardwood flooring is sterile, there might nevertheless be damage to the floor finish. Finishes, like waxes and memory, can inhibit the flow of the moisture that is absorbed. They will sometimes be eliminated in the drying process to allow for moisture removal.
If the hardwood floor cups slightly, the finish may crack and check due to the movement of the timber product. This is a normal part of the drying procedure. When the floor is completely dry, the flooring can be refinished.
PuroClean restoration professionals have the knowledge to correctly evaluate the various kinds of floors and have specialized equipment to repair hardwood floor water damage. Check this link for more information.
To summarize, here’s how to Fix hardwood flooring water damage:
- Drain the excess water.
- Assess and record the damage.
- Apparent the flooded area.
- Clean the dirt and dry the ground utilizing air blowing off equipment and dehumidifiers.
- At the conclusion of the process, if the floor reveals signs of cupping and crowning, consult a hardwood flooring installer to find the floor back in shape.
- Instead, call an expert restoration firm to perform all this hard work.