Water on Hardwood Floors

What to Do

It doesn’t matter if it’s just a few drops or a big spill — standing water on hardwood floors is damaging. Even mopping your hardwoods with water only can damage your hardwoods.

If you do find that there is water damage, the first step is to determine where the water damage came from. It’s pointless to fix even a minor water damage issue if it just returns from say a small leak in the refrigerator creating a quiet little stream onto your hardwoods.

For example, a pair of rain boots or rain jacket dripping on the hardwood floor, then make sure you find a different place to hang your rain coat or store your boots.

It’s easier to fix a minor water damage of discolored, slightly swollen or cracked hardwoods.

Steps to fix minor damage include:

• Rubbing the affected area with coarse sandpaper and then a finer grit until the area is smooth.
• Treat the spot with a matching wood sealant.
• If necessary, sand it back once more and treat it again until the color and cracks are filled and smoothed.

With major damage from a bursting pipe or leaking dishwasher, the floor boards will either buckle inwards or cup and warp, making the floor uneven.

In either case, whether it’s minor or major, hiring an expert will help you fix your floor correctly so that it looks and feels just the same as before the damage.

In major damage, your expert will help you rent a dehumidifier that can run for a long period of time in a space constructed with a sealed vacuum to remove all the moisture in the area. Many times this will help shrink the damaged hardwoods to their original size. Once the wood is completely dry, it is then sanded and refinished to its original look and feel.

In extreme cases, the floor beneath the hardwoods won’t dry out with a dehumidifier. Then you either have to wait for a time, or pull up some damaged hardwoods and then once the subfloor is dry, reinstall new wood in that area. In the most extreme case, the whole floor just needs to be replaced.

Doing the research and trying to fix it yourself is of course, always an option, but hiring an expert will help you determine just how bad the situation is, and how your unique hardwood problem can be addressed.

Tags: Hardwood floors