Don't Rip Up That Wet Hardwood Floor Just Yet!

A few months ago, we completed a fairly large restoration job in Scarsdale, NY. The homeowners had a significant amount of water damage to their home after several days of heavy rains. Because their house sits at the lowest part of a steeply inclined street, their house is the prime target for excess runoff from heavy rains, or any water for that matter. Being new homeowners, they had begun to update areas of the house to suit their personal tastes. One of the first things they did was installing beautiful hardwood floors throughout the basement. They were trying to create an upscale game room and the pictures that they showed me were really impressive. unfortunately, the heavy rainfall created alot of excess water, and water, as we know, seeks the lowest possible place to settle. It just so happens that the lowest point was their newly finished basement. They were devastated, to say the least. There was several inches of water covering their brand new hardwood floors when I arrived.
The clients assumed that their hardwood floors would have to be ripped out and replaced because of the warping they had begun to see after we extracted the water. It's actually not always the case. In this particular instance, we were able to successfully salvage their floors. Depending on how long the floors were exposed to the water, how much water actually penetrated the wood, and several other factors can determine if your floors can be saved. An experienced restoration company will have the tools to properly assess the damage and the equipment to properly fix it. The equipment that I use in scenarios where there are wet hardwood floors uses air that is directly injected under and in-between the planks or panels of wood. It can take several days of drying to properly salvage the floors, but only experienced technicians should be handling these types of repairs. It's important that flooring, among other fixtures, dry slowly, evenly and thoroughly. This principle actually applies to most damaged parts of the structure.
If your home suffers water damage, the best thing to do is to call a reputable disaster restoration company (preferably mine....shameless plug......I know). Next, take a deep breath and let the professionals do what you hired them to do. A great restoration company will have employees that can answer all of your questions and concerns, the proper equipment to do the job and a plan of action to properly handle the situation. If they don't, call another company!