How To Care For Hardwood Floors After Water Damage

5/28/2017 (Permalink)

SERVPRO of Belle Meade can keep your hardwood floors in great condition even after water damage

Welcome to SERVPRO of Belle Meade and Nashville. Our company can help restore your hardwood floors after home water damage from storms, major appliance leaks, or malfunctions like a burst pipe.

Whenever you have water damage at home, give us a call. Some jobs need expert equipment and materials to remedy and warped hardwood floors are one of those jobs. If you want to get a start before we arrive, following these tips could help stem the tide of damage.

After removing wet items from the area, use a wet vacuum, such as a ShopVac, to remove as much of the water as possible. Go over the entire area multiple times, because even when you can’t see any more water on the floor, the vacuum may be still working to suction the rest of the water out of small cracks and crevices in the floor. Next, clean the surface with a disinfectant floor cleaner that doesn’t foam or suds. Something like Mr. Clean is a good choice.

Next, put a dehumidifier in the affected area and leave it running for at least a full day to further dry out the area. Also, consider putting fans in the room to help with the drying process. If it’s not humid outside or raining, you can open any windows as well.

When the floor is completely dry, check for signs of mold or mildew, and if you see any, treat it with a paste-like mixture of baking soda and water. Do not use bleach on your wood floors. If you can address the water damage problem right away, it’s more likely you’ll be able to salvage them. According to the EPA, mold can start growing in moist areas within 48-72 hours of the first initial contact the floors have with moisture. Time is critical when drying out hardwood floors affected by water and excess moisture.

Seeking out professional help is a good idea when the problem is in a large area or you think it’s not something you can handle yourself. SERVPRO of Belle Meade has sophisticated commercial equipment that helps pull moisture from underneath the floorboards for effective drying and allowing moisture to be released, even from the smallest of places. Moreover, if the damage occurs as the result of a natural disaster or some other weather event, your homeowner’s insurance may cover all or part of the damages that occur, so keep that in mind as well.