Flooded Hardwood Floor
Scrub woodwork with a brush and detergent before floors are dry.
Flooded hardwood floor. When dealing with a flooded hardwood floor act quickly to save your floor from permanent damage and mold growth. Before the floors totally dry take a non abrasive but stiff brush plenty of water and a non sudsing detergent and thoroughly clean your floors. Nails may begin to lift glue may release causing separation between floor pieces and tongue and groove floors often cup or buckle when moisture has been absorbed.
Sand water damaged wood flooring after drying a wood floor you may have some concave or convex floorboards. Rinse the floor with clean water and continue to dry the floor. If your house has flooded there will likely be mud and silt trapped in the crevices and corners of your floor.
Clean any debris and mud from the floor with a non abrasive brush and detergent while the heaters fans and dehumidifiers are running. During harvey that wood floor got as much as 6 inches of water on top of it. A flooded hardwood floor can have up to 40 moisture content and can retain well above the normal amount of moisture for weeks if left to dry on it s own.
Despite all our floods we still have the same wood floors in our showroom and offices the flooring is end grain mesquite glued directly to an epoxy type moisture barrier over the concrete slab. If you ve been following the aftermath of hurricane harvey or hurricane irma this should come as no surprise. When water sits on top of hardwood floors it can permanently ruin the hardwood as the wood will absorb the water through its pores causing warping and discoloration.