How Flood Damage Affects Wood Floors In Your Tallahassee Home

3/25/2017 (Permalink)

Wood Flooring is Restored by SERVPRO After a Flooding Event in Tallahassee

SERVPRO Salvages Wood Flooring Post Storms and Floods

Wood floors are popular with homeowners. A natural wood floor has an elegance that is perfect for a family home or for entertaining. Unfortunately, wood floors are also susceptible to damage as a result of flooding.
 
Flood damage to your Tallahassee home can be the result of severe weather. This is a particular problem during hurricane season. However, the weather is not the only cause. A burst water main or even a faulty appliance can cause flood damage, too. Flooding is especially harmful for wooden floors and can damage them in 3 main ways:
 
Warping and Buckling
Wood floors that absorb excess water are susceptible to warping and buckling. The water soaked boards become misshapen and push against one another. There is a real risk of the warping or buckling becoming permanent as the floor dries.
 
Crowning
Crowning happens when the top of the wood floor absorbs more moisture than the bottom or the sides. The top of the boards bow upwards to form a “crown”.
 
Cupping
Cupping happens when the bottom or sides of the wood floor absorb more moisture than the top. The edges of the boards rise slightly to form a “cup”.
 
Flood damaged wood floors are not a lost cause. Quick action and proper drying make it possible to save the wood floors in your home. SERVPRO has all the equipment necessary to assess and treat your damaged wood floors and give them the best chance of restoration.
 
Our IICRC-certified technicians arrive with truck mounted and standing pumps ready to extract as much water as possible from the surface of your wood floors. Thorough water extraction is an important step in restoring wood floors. We can set up floor mats which are devices that cover about 8 square feet of flooring and helps in suctioning out water from the joints of the slats and also helps to dry the floor joists. We also remove any wet floor coverings as these hinder the drying process. We can install temporary floor tents (cover with poly sheeting) and introduce air circulation and dehumidifiers to draw out the moisture.
 
The correct drying process is vital. We train our SERVPRO experts to position air movers and dehumidifiers in the most effective way. We understand that proper drying of wood floors can take days or even weeks. You can rest assured that our technicians are on hand to monitor the drying process from start to finish. Some damage is improved by sanding after the surface is completely dry - our team takes care of sanding for you, too. We attempt to restore rather than to replace damaged flooring.
 
SERVPRO of North Leon County is here to help restore your wood floors after flood damage. Call us at (850) 536-6599 for assistance.