Hardwood floors are one of the sturdiest materials you can get for a floor. They are long-lasting, have easy maintenance, are environmentally friendly, and can stand up to a lot. While hardwood floors are resistant to a lot of things, many people wonder, “Does water ruin hardwood floors?” and the answer is yes. This is because wood is a permeable material, meaning that it can absorb liquids easily. People, who have another flooring, like laminate, always question “What happens to laminate flooring when it gets wet?” or “Does water damage tile floors” When tile and laminate get wet, it’s not going to be as damaged as it would be if it were wood. That’s because laminate and tile aren’t porous like wood, so it doesn’t soak up moisture the same way. However, when a home has flooded and gets under the laminate or tile, there will more than likely be some problems.
When a wood floor has water damage, the most common things that are going to happen to it are that the floors will start cupping, warping, and grow mold. When a floor has cupping problems, that means that the edges of the board start to curl up higher than the center of the board. When cupping is the issue, many people will ask, “Can cupping hardwood floors be reversed?” and the answer depends on how much moisture there is. When the cause of the water damage is known, its easier to know if floor water damage like cupping can be reversed. The more severe physical damage that will happen to wood floors is if they warp, which is when the wood starts to look distorted and pops up from the floor. If the water on the wood floors has been left for more than 24 hours, mold will start to grow. This is bad as it can spread to other areas of your home and cause issues with your indoor air quality. The best thing you can do when you have water damage to the floor is to fix the damage. But how do you remove water damage from wood?
If a water damage floor isn’t too severe, there are a couple of things that you can do. You will need to remove the pieces of wood that have wood rot. From there you will need to add a filler to the areas that have been removed from the wood. After applying a few coats of the filler, you will need to sand the area and then prime and paint it to ensure that can stand up to wear and tear. However, if the wood floor is providing structural support, then you will need to have the wood replaced.
How Do You Remove Moisture From Hardwood Floors?
When you have had severe water damage to your floor, the first thing you will want to do is remove all of the water from the floor. This might seem like you just take a towel and mop up the excess water, but its a lot more involved than that. The reason is that the water can penetrate through the wood floors because of the porous material. Because of this, you will need the right equipment. Water damage floor drying includes a couple of steps.
- The first thing you will want to do is remove rugs and other floor coverings. Sometimes these things can be saved, other times they will need to be thrown away if they are too damaged.
- Mop up and dry all of the water that is on the floor.
- The next step you will want to take is cleaning your floor. If your floors have water from something unsanitary like a sewer, its best to leave all of the drying and cleaning to professionals.
- To reduce wood floorboards from cupping and warping, you can remove a few floorboards so they can expand and dry.
- To dry the floorboards, use a couple of fans to dry up your floors.
- There will be water that seeps through the floorboards, so the best thing you can do is get a hardwood floor water damage dehumidifier to remove moisture from the air and floorboards.
You can do all of this on your own, but if your home has flooded due to a severe storm or a plumbing burst, it’s a good idea to call a professional. Mesquite, TX storm damage repair requires professional roofers, so if your floors are in bad condition, it’s worth it to call a water remediation specialist.
Replacement Flooring Options
When a water damage floor is beyond repair, you will need to get your floors replaced. There are a ton of floor replacement options that homeowners can choose from when they are replacing their water damage floor.
- Hardwood: They can either choose hardwood floors again because hardwood floors have a lot of options like bamboo, birch, cherry, engineered hardwood, handscraped hardwood, hickory, maple, oak, and walnut.
- Laminate: There is also the option of laminate, which comes in beveled edge and wide plank laminate.
- Tile: Tile flooring is another great option if you need to replace your floors. There are so many choices when it comes to tile floors like ceramic tile, ceramic wood tile, glass tile, marble, porcelain, porcelain wood tile, slate, and travertine.
- Vinyl: Vinyl flooring has been around for many, many years and has continued to be a popular choice. You can get regular vinyl, linoleum, and sheet vinyl to choose from.
If you think that tile flooring in Pantego and Arlington, TX is an excellent option for your home, call DFW Flooring Warehouse at 817.861.3737.