It can make passage and cabinet doors swell and it can warp door and window casement molding.
Wet wood floor.
The moisture temperature and dust layer beneath a wet wood floor provides a pretty good environment for mold.
The first thing to mention is that your wood floor s polyurethane coating is specifically intended to keep water and dirt from ever touching the wood.
Dishwasher or washing machine a fire with water used to extinguish the fire water spills accidents pet accidents a high water table in the ground that then forces water into your sub floor from the ground.
Wood can get wet or moist in a number of ways a flood from outside from the rain leaky pipes or frozen pipes ice damming a toilet overflow a leaky roof a hurricane or storm an appliance breaks or leaks e g.
Sometimes if you let it dry out.
If your wood flooring is covered by wet rugs mats or carpeting you ll need to remove them immediately.
Condensation from high humidity air can create wet wood all over the house.
M ajor storms like sandy can cause extensive water damage to hardwood floors but panicked homeowners should not rush to replace what appears to be beyond repair.
Floors are especially vulnerable to moisture.
If they are wet too set them outside in the sun to dry.
Leaving wet floors naturally air dry is not worth the potential risk.
The only way to effectively tackle a wet wood floor is clear it completely of furniture and rugs.
The best wood floor for the bathroom is reclaimed or engineered white oak.
The wet floor may also begin to buckle and cup when large amounts of water are absorbed as the planks swell.
Scrub the floor mix a mild detergent and a compatible disinfectant such as mr.
Scrub the entire floor and all related woodwork baseboards stairs and newel posts etc with a stiff brush rinsing the brush frequently in the bucket.
Water is the enemy of hardwood flooring.
But of course if the flooding is caused by continuing rain set the items in a dry area with durable flooring such as a garage.
So your flooring may show signs of staining from small spills.
The area underneath your wood floor won t dry while the wood is still wet.
If water seeps underneath the floor covering and infiltrates the subfloor the resulting rot can create sponginess.
Clean with clean water in a bucket.
Although even the most durable polyurethane coatings are not fully water proof keeping the protective layer in good shape is the best defense against water damaging your wood floor.
A water damaged wood floor can remain above 18 mc for over a month.
If your carpets and rugs have been soaked and they are not immediately cleaned they will usually need to be discarded due to mildew concerns.