However, as you're about to discover, water doesn't always cause damage immediately after a leak occurs. For example, it takes up to 10 days for wood to start to rot due to exposure to water. If you have hardwood floors, you don't want any liquid to stay on that surface for too long, as it could deform the wood. If this is a major flood on your hardwood floors, it should ideally be resolved within 24 hours.
The first 24 hours are critical and the longer the wood is in contact with water, the worse the damage will be. If you remove water from hardwood floors quickly and dry them properly, you may be able to save the wood (or most of it). You'll most likely have to sand and repaint the wood afterwards, and then your floors will look (almost) like new. Plus, you'll avoid the cost and hassle of uprooting and transporting hardwood, as well as paying for new wood and installation.
Repainting hardwood is much less expensive than replacing it. Within the first 2 hours to 7 days of coming into contact with moisture and water, the wood is likely to experience mold and mildew. Hardwood floors, window frames, and doors will begin to warp and swell. Keep in mind that a wooden floor damaged by water is prone to serious biological contamination, so it would be best to treat it immediately.
The first twenty-four hours are critical to saving hardwood floors. As the water recedes, the outer floor may appear dry, while the subsurface may still be wet. During the restoration of water damage, it is important to first eliminate any sources of moisture (carpets, furniture, etc.) Water damage occurs when water is allowed to saturate a wooden floor, and the result is a condition that is often referred to as hollowing. This happens because the unfinished lower part of the boards absorbs more moisture, which causes the lower part of each board to expand more than the upper part of the board.
The result is a wavy appearance and each row of wood is raised at the seams. Be careful when cleaning hardwood floors, because wood veins can absorb excessive amounts of water. Once the moisture content of the damaged boards stabilizes and the humidity readings are consistent throughout the room, you can start with repair or refinishing. If you have any questions about or have a problem with water damage, call Atlantis Plumbing today at 770-505-8570.
Unfortunately, it's not always a question of being able to enter right after a flood, as the water must back up before the damage can be properly assessed. There are a lot of problems here in basements, especially since that's where the water heater is normally located. If you notice that the sides of the wooden floorboards are higher than the center of the plank, then you will know that they are deformed and that the cause is undoubtedly water damage. Once water is removed quickly, Restore Pro can repair or replace wood beams that bend, hollow out, or discolor.
For homeowners who see their beautiful hardwood floors start to bend and warp due to water damage, this isn't good news at all. When you notice water damage, the ideal would be to call your lawyer or insurance company immediately to see if water damage is included in your insurance coverage. The delay in restoration can significantly increase the cost of repair, since they would not only deal with repairing water damage at that time, but also decontamination services. Leaky or frozen pipes, a broken water heater, an overflowing toilet, a broken appliance, a power outage that caused the sump pump to not work) or a structural problem in the house (for example, when water is damaged, it's important to remove water quickly and dry the floors, not only to save the wood floors (and the subfloor), but also to prevent mold growth (which, of course, can be a bigger and more expensive problem to solve).
The effects of water damage are slow and constant; you might not notice that anything is wrong with hardwood floors for a while, so be preventive and clean up any amount of water right away. .
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