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How To Avoid & Fix Wood Floor Water Damage

Floorboard water damage is a common problem with hardwood or engineered wooden floors, with the wood’s natural fibres soaking up water if not treated.

Wooden floor water damage is easily noticeable due to the curving and cupping of the floorboards creating a bowed or raised appearance. If water damage has gone undetected however, and has been allowed to progress across the hardwood floor, the damage is more than likely irreversible and practically impossible to fix. In this instance, water damaged wood floors may require a full restoration or even a replacement.

To help you avoid the hassle and money required to fix wooden floor water damage, Quicksand Flooring have put together a simple guide on how to protect your flooring from water damage and how to notice the early signs.

How to Prevent Wood Floor Water Damage

It’s far easier to prevent wood floor water damage than it is to try and repair wood floor water damage once it’s already started to take hold. Here are some ways to ‘waterproof’ your home and try to avoid as many accidents as possible.

wood floor water damage

Locate potential water sources

If possible, before you have hardwood flooring installed, you should locate all of the potential water sources around your home and make sure your plumbing system has been thoroughly checked to avoid any potential leaks occurring.

Water can find its way into your home and onto or underneath your precious floorboards in a variety of ways, some more problematic than others such as leaky pipes, toilet or bath overflows, appliance leakages, spillages, pet accidents and much more. While it’s impossible to avoid all these potential issues completely, try to keep a towel at hand to soak up any excess water from the surface of your floor quickly and efficiently before it has time to soak into the wood. 

Provide protection

If you have had your wood floor installed by a professional, it will have a sealant such as wax or polyurethane applied to protect it. If you have had your hardwood floor installed for many years or you are moving into a property with an old wooden floor, it’s important to reseal your wood as soon as possible. Sealants essentially act as a barrier between your flooring and the everyday stressors of the outside world like water, dirt, grit, and food.

It’s important to keep in mind that although sealant does a great job of stopping any liquids from seeping into your wood straight away, this does not mean that the wood is waterproof. If water is left to sit on top of your hardwood flooring for a long period of time, it will still soak into the floor leading to water damage, so make sure to mop up any spills as soon as they occur. 

On top of using sealants, consider adding rugs, mats or other types of floor protection on top of your wood. Rugs can not only add depth to your decor, but they can also work wonders for preventing floorboard water damage. If you have wooden flooring, we recommend placing rugs by each entryway to your home to protect the wood from any water or dirt carried in by shoes.

Maintain your wooden flooring

Another way to avoid potential wood floor water damage is to have a regular cleaning routine in place. Use gentle cleaning tools, vacuum and wipe down your wooden flooring on a regular basis to remove any dirt or water from the surface.

When mopping, be extra careful to ensure your mop is damp and not wet, otherwise this could leave excess moisture behind. We would recommend only mopping your hardwood floor when it really needs it, using a microfibre or extra soft mop head to avoid any scratches.

How to Fix Wooden Floor Water Damage

Despite all your efforts to protect your hardwood floor from water damage, accidents can still happen. Here are some of the warning signs to look out for and tips on how to approach fixing water damage before it gets out of hand.

Warning signs of wood floor water damage

There are a few main signs of wood floor water damage to look out for:

  • Cupping – hardwood floorboards expand due to the excess moisture absorbed which pushes the boards together and causes them to drop and curve down towards the centre. 
  • Crowning – the opposite effect of cupping where the floorboards rise up in the centre as the water causes them to push together producing a curved effect.
  • Buckling – a more noticeable and irreversible type of damaged caused by the floorboards crowning so much that they eventually raise up from the ground.
  • Dark spots – can signal mould or mildew. 
  • Gaps and cracks.

How to remove water from wooden flooring

If you’ve noticed any of the common warning signs of a water-damaged wood floor above, you will need to look at refinishing or even replacing your wood floor depending on the severity of the damage. 

  • Remove any wet objects

The first step is to remove any rugs or furniture that have been soaked with water. Put the water-soaked items somewhere that they can dry effectively without adding extra moisture to the wooden floor.

  • Soak up any surface water

Secondly, remove any surface water by mopping, using clean rags, or drying the water with a towel. If your vacuum cleaner has a ‘wet mode’ try using this with no bag to help remove as much water as possible from the surface.

  • Clean away any mould or dirt

Mould can pose a serious health hazard to humans. To prevent any further problems caused by mould, scrub the surface of the wood with clean water and disinfectant. While it may seem strange to add liquid to the surface after drying it, there may still be mould and dirt in the pores of the wood that need removing.

  • Open the windows to ventilate the room

Allow the floor to dry naturally and slowly, with plenty of airflow. Open the windows and position fans in the area to help move air through the room and dry the moisture out.

  • Call a professional to refinish or replace your existing wooden floor

If you’ve noticed signs of wood floor water damage, and the methods above don’t seem to be working, you will need to look at refinishing or even replacing your wooden flooring depending on the severity of the damage.

Crowned floorboards can be easily sanded down by a professional wood floor restoration team to return them to their original shape. At Quicksand Flooring, we have years of experience in fixing wood floor damages, dealing with a wide range of issues related to worn or uneven surfaces. Alternatively, if your water damage has caused the raising or cracking of floorboards, you can have some or all of your floor replaced. Get in touch with our team of hardwood floor experts for advice or a free quote today.