When you discover a water leak in your home, whether is has recently begun or has been occurring over a long period of time, you will need to clean it up and dry out the area quickly to restore your home. Here are some instructions to help you deal with a water leak on your wood floors and restore them.
Remove the Water
The first step in restoring your wood flooring is to clean up the water to prevent further moisture saturation. The longer water sits on top of your finished hardwood floors, the more it can penetrate into the wood and its sub-floor, causing damage. Use a shop vacuum and a mop to remove the water to begin drying out the area.
In the case of a prolonged leak, you will likely need to remove part of the flooring to ensure the sub-floor of your wood flooring dries out completely. If you allow any water to remain trapped beneath the floor, the sub-floor can begin to grow mold and become damaged from dry rot. If any of your floorboards are buckled from the moisture, you will need to remove the damaged planks for replacement or try to dry them out flattened with a heavy object.
Be sure to inspect the sub-floor to check for any moisture damage, especially if the leak has been occurring for some time. A long-term leak will require you to remove and replace the sub-floor material.
Dry Out the Area
Use a pry bar and carefully remove the nails holding any warped boards in place and remove them from the sub-floor. Set them outside or in another dry room of your home. Place some heavy dumbbell weights, large rocks, or similar heavy items carefully onto the planks to help flatten them as they dry. If you cannot remove the warping from the planks, plan to replace them with new ones.
Place fans in the room with the water damage, directing them onto the flooring. You can find high-powered fans at most home improvement stores, which are great at helping to dry out after water damage. If you have removed part of the flooring, direct the fans into the flooring or dry it from the room below. A dehumidifier in the room also helps pull excess moisture from the air, which you can buy from most home improvement stores.
If your home's heating or cooling system has a dehumidifier installed within it, turn on your HVAC system to help dry out the air in your home. It is important to remove as much moisture as possible as fast as possible to prevent mold and mildew growth in your flooring. Any mold growth should be wiped from the surface of the flooring with a cleaning cloth and a cleaning solution containing bleach.
These tips will help you deal with a water leak on your floors, but if you continue to have problems or if you want to ensure your floors are restored, it is best to contact a professional water damage restoration company. Contact a local company, such as Servpro Of South Elkhart County, for help today.
Share29 November 2017
Do you know what it takes to restore your home after water damage has occurred? If you are anything like me, you think that you can get away with simply drying the house out and getting rid of the furniture and contents that are beyond repair. Unfortunately, there is a lot more to it than that. I learned the hard way just how devastating water damage can be to the home if you do not take the proper measures to clean the mess up. You can learn from my personal experience so that you do not have to spend the time and money going through the additional steps of restoration after water damage incident.
