How To Fix A Wood Floor That Got Wet

However heavily cupped wood cannot be sanded down flat.

How to fix a wood floor that got wet.

White water marks on a hardwood surface only affect the wood s finish and are easily removed with a light sanding and sealing process. Best tips for water removal and drying your hardwood floors after a flood 1. The area underneath your wood floor won t dry while the wood is still wet. Setting up ventialtion fans and a dehumidifier will remove moisture over the course of a few months.

This is called cupping heavy sanding with a drum or orbital sander can actually take down some minor high areas. Sand water damaged wood flooring. However hardwood flooring does have one draw back it can t stand up to prolonged exposure to water so if water is allowed to stay on a hardwood floor the wood will be damaged either stained or warped. The type of wood flooring you have affects the repair options available.

So your flooring may show signs of staining from small spills the wet floor may also begin to buckle and cup when large amounts of water are absorbed as the planks swell. If water or moisture continues to penetrate the wood you ll be fighting a no win battle. So find the problem and fix it before the floors get any worse. Removing the moisture as soon as possible is key.

Due to the porous nature of wood moisture can be easily absorbed into the material. If your wood flooring is covered by wet rugs mats or carpeting you ll need to remove them immediately. Not only do they look good they re easy to care for resist wear and they re even eco friendly. After drying a wood floor you may have some concave or convex floorboards.

As suggested in the wood flooring 101 section of our website the type of wood flooring you have limits the range of possible repairs for your wood floor. Make sure you find and stop the source of the water damage. If your carpets and rugs have been soaked and they are not immediately cleaned they will usually need to be discarded due to mildew concerns. Sometimes if you let it dry out.

Remove all of the other wet items out of the area. Hardwood floors can be very damaged from water infiltration. How to lighten wood that has been darkened with water damage. The wood floor swelling should go down then the flooring can be sanded and revarnished.

M ajor storms like sandy can cause extensive water damage to hardwood floors but panicked homeowners should not rush to replace what appears to be beyond repair.