Easy 5-Step Guide On How To Repair Water Damaged Wood Floors

Looking for easy ways to learn how to repair water damaged wood floors? It’s common among many homeowners and interior designers to use wood flooring. However, they often come with a slight vulnerability for water.

Prevention is better than cure when it comes to things around the house. Cellulose fibers in wood absorb water quickly, but it takes much longer for the water to be released. As a result, you should immediately begin using your shop vacuum to take out the water.

how to repair water damaged wood floors

One example is that when water damaged hardwood floors are not handled properly, they warp, become moldy, and significantly reduce the worth of your property.

Even if you think your wood floors are so thoroughly treated that water cannot soak into the raw wood, you might want to rethink your statement. Although only the top layer of a wood floor is leaky, the floor has several infiltration points: at seams, breaches in the coating, underneath baseboards, around heating registers, and more.

You don’t have to stress over your water damaged wood floors. We are here to help you fix that problem!

 

How Do You Repair Damaged Wood Floors?

 

Step #1. Assess and find the source

You first need to stop water flow to prevent the items from being exposed to the drying process. Before doing any cleaning, keep in mind if your roof is in good shape. While water is still streaming in, you won’t be able to do much to control water damage.

 

Step #2. Dry the surface water

Use a shop vacuum on “wet mode” to suck up as much water as possible from the floor. With a large floor attachment on the vacuum hose, this is the easiest. A squeegee is also helpful for gathering the water you suck up.

Waiting for the water-damaged floors to dry out is the most difficult challenge when dealing with water-damaged floors. You may skip replacing the floors if they’re rolled like a washboard.

After your water-damaged hardwood floors have had time to dry out, please call your flooring contractor. Depending on the moisture test results, you may only have to wait a couple of weeks for the next round of testing.

 

Step #3. Remove dirt and scrub

The flooring is vulnerable to lasting harm if these contaminants are not removed. Combine clean water and a mild detergent with an appropriate disinfectant in a pail. Start at the entrance and scrub every surface with a stiff brush, scrubbing in several directions to get as much of the built-up dirt and grime off the floor.

Then, rinse the brush regularly in the bucket. Therefore, there is no reason to add more water to the problem; just do not spill it on the floor. Ensure to clean the dirt, muck, silt, and organic matter off completely to prevent mold from growing.

 

Step #4. Dry it out

You should maintain a consistent drying temperature to preserve the appearance of wooden floors. To dry out flooded hardwood floors, keep big fans and air movers on the floor to circulate the air. Open windows and doors unless humidity in the outside air is higher than the humidity in the inside air.

When it comes to drying hardwood floors damaged by water, it is essential to dry the floor gently and steadily to prevent water damage. Use a box fan to move air from one side of a window to the other, where new air will enter. It is an excellent solution for drying out the water in the under-floor plumbing.

 

Step #5. Maintain and remove molds

Regardless of the origin of the water damage, we can avoid additional harm if we maintain and check it often.

Wipe up any water spills or puddles on your floors immediately. If you notice wetness on the surface, make sure to get a dry, clean cloth or mop quickly. Action will have little or even no influence on your floors, as long as it is quick.

 

How do I know if my hardwood floor is water damaged?

Once you discover something different about your wood flooring, the impacts of water damage have already occurred. Individual planks cupping or multiple planks crowning can be an early symptom of water damage and may lead to floors with a hump.

Moisture absorption in the wood of your floor encourages expansion, which is most obvious in the corners of the board that are heading upward or when planks begin to collapse.

 

How much does it cost to repair a wood floor? 

Don’t have any insurance? The average cost for hardwood floor repair is $952, which varies between $444 and $1,460.

A few households claim that repairs have cost over $3,000. Typically, you’ll spend between $2 and $25 per square foot, but the cost can vary according to the damage you’ve received.

 

Conclusion

You don’t need to worry yourself about researching how to repair water damaged wood floors. It is a good idea to ask for professional help if you can’t do it by yourself. Sometimes having a helping hand can make the work easier.

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