How to Prevent Hardwood Water Damage

Hardwood Floor Water Damage

Introduction:

Wood floors have always been the norm for floor construction from the earliest period of home construction. Construction material was based upon what was available in the local area and wood was always plentiful. In early construction the wood floors were made from pine. Hardwood floors came into play around the middle of the nineteenth century and remain a very popular flooring option.

Hardwood floors add certain warmth to the home and are very comfortable to walk on, especially when you are barefoot. It is imperative that they are protected from the elements that will cause water damage to wood floor.

Hardwood floors come from different types of hardwood trees with different characteristics and hardness. Although oak hardwood flooring was the norm for decades now all kinds of hardwood is used. Often a house will have two or more different types of hardwood flooring for different rooms.

Water Damage to Hardwood Floors

To protect your wood floors the need to be finished with a coat of urethane, polyurethane or acrylic to make them water resistant. You need to be very careful to prevent them from getting scratched or water damaged. Restoring a damaged hardwood floor from water damage can be very expensive. Warping, peeling, buckling and rotting are typically the type of damage that can occur from water damage.

Hardwood floor water damage may be caused by several factors. One is flooding in your area that reaches up to the floors. If this is an act of nature, you will have no way of preventing it so the only thing left to do would be to do restoration work immediately after the water has subsided.

Another possible cause would be mopping the floor with a very wet mop or using too much liquid floor cleaner. Even if you have protective finish they are never 100% waterproof. Even if water cannot penetrate the surface it can seep in between floor boards and damage the floor.

When hardwood floors are subjected to water damage, immediately dry the floor out by mopping it with a dry mop or using large fans. Cleaning a hardwood floor with water is not recommended. Use a vacuum cleaner to remove dirt and dust to prevent scratching the floor and then uses a damp mop to sanitize the floor. If the water has penetrated so deeply into the wood grain and there are already evidence of permanent damage you would have no choice but to replace your hardwood floors.

To prevent hardwood floor water damage the floor must be sealed with a protective coat of varnish, preferably a urethane, polyurethane or acrylic finish. With a proper finish and care hardwood floors will last for decades.

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