Can Hardwood Floors Recover from Water Damage?

Hardwood floors are desirable, but their potential loss causes significant disappointment and stress after Dunwoody water damage. Prepare for a pleasant surprise as the professionals at AdvantaClean of Sandy Springs have many resources available to return the function and appearance of wet wood strip and plank flooring. Prompt attention from trained work crews with leading-edge equipment makes all the difference.  

Water Damaged Hardwood Flooring

Regardless of how the leak or spill occurred, a hardwood floor’s walking surface can appear untouched moments after the accident. Be proactive in these cases, seeking evaluation of a reputable firm like AdvantaClean of Sandy Springs. We can confirm whether unintended outcomes of the soaking occur sight unseen. To grasp what could be happening inches below your feet, consider the following:

  • The visible layer of hardwood often has a finish providing resistance to surface water.

  • Liquids flow between the joints of a plank or strip floor, dripping to saturate the next level, which is typically unfinished and very absorbent plywood. 

  • Wooden unfinished joists installed at vertical intervals provide underlying support and absorb more liquids.

  • The moisture now trapped in subfloor structures begins to migrate upwards through evaporation and contact, pulled into the unfinished bottom of the uppermost hardwood layer.

Why Is Moisture Migration a Problem?

Unfortunately, after some time, the top-most floor surface you hoped was spared from the water damage begins to show worrisome issues. The wicking of fluids from supersaturated to dry materials, a type of moisture migration, follows the laws of physics. The technicians at AdvantaClean of Sandy Springs learn about migration and its dangers during training offered by the Institute of Inspection, Cleaning and Restoration Certification (IICRC). Adverse consequences of wicking include distortions described below from water damage swelling:

  • Cupping: 

If the swelling is most severe on the bottom of the planks, the sides rise higher than the center of the boards, creating a concave or cupped profile on each section.

  • Crowning: 

Swelling along the sides squeezes the width of each board, causing the center of the wood to push up into a curved ridge called a crown. 

  • Buckling: 

When the swelling and subsequent distortion are severe, entire lengths of hardwood floorboards can dislodge from the subfloor, pulling nails or other fasteners away and leaving a hazardous and even splintered surface.

What Is the Solution for Warped Hardwood?

Active moisture removal by the AdvantaClean of Sandy Springs team can rapidly improve the outcome after water damages your hardwood floors in Dunwoody. If skilled technicians intervene quickly enough, swelling is interrupted or recedes enough during drying for the floor surface to flatten. Effective tactics include:

  • Clean up of any residual standing water with professional extraction equipment

  • Locating wet substrate areas with moisture detection tools or thermal imaging to focus the use of advanced moisture removal technology

  • Establishing drying goals based on a comparison of the moisture content of similar materials in unaffected spaces on your property

  • Employing negative air pressure systems to suction liquid and absorbed water from subfloors and the unfinished surfaces of hardwood--typically, this occurs by attaching flat mats to the identified floor areas connected by hoses to powerful extraction equipment 

  • Monitoring moisture levels throughout the process, repositioning the mats until the achievement of individualized drying goals 

  • General applied structural drying practices to complete the moisture balance

A diligent mopping does not guarantee resolution of the water damage your Dunwoody hardwood floor suffered following leaks or spills. Failing to account for the percolation of water below the visible surface of the floor can result in permanent destruction. Fortunately, AdvantaClean of Sandy Springs has the knowledge, trained crews, and advanced equipment to resolve water-soaking damage through multiple flooring levels.  

When IICRC-trained technicians take on a wet hardwood floor restoration project, results can amaze. The key is a rapid referral to AdvantaClean of Sandy Springs by property owners experiencing water damage in Dunwoody. Our team has the expertise and resources to remove excess fluids and bring the wood’s moisture levels back to optimum levels. We observe research-based best practices to save your treasured floors from permanent warping and destructive buckling. 

Prepare to be impressed with the outcome when AdvantaClean of Sandy Springs takes on your hardwood floor water damage woes in Dunwoody. Call us at (404) 474-8443 as soon as possible to consider the options available to restore wet flooring to its previous glory.

AdvantaClean of Sandy Springs

(404) 474-8443

6577 Long Acres DR, Atlanta, GA 30328

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(404) 474-8443
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