This year, there was a lot of flooding in the areas around the BetaBoard head office in Brisbane. As a result, we’ve received a lot of questions about repairing water damage to various parts of a homes. This led us to writing a series of blog articles to help homeowners understand what needs to be done in the case of water damage. This article is about repairing a water damaged wood floor.
To Save or Replace a Water Damaged Wood Floor?
If you have water damaged floorboards, you two options. You can try to save the floorboards or you can remove and replace the water damaged floorboards. Both options require some elbow grease and some aspects of these kinds of repairs are probably best left to the professionals. Let’s cover both situations starting with saving and repairing wet floorboards.
Water Damaged Floor Repair – Saving Your Wet Floorboards
We can imagine that you’d want to save your wet floorboards if possible. Unfortunately, this is not always doable, but if you act quickly and don’t let the floorboards stay wet for too long it becomes more and more likely. Here is what you need to do to salvage a water damaged wood floor.
Step 1 – Remove Standing Water
You’ll want to start off by removing as much water as you can. This can be accomplished by using a wet-dry shop vacuum and towels. We recommend using old towels that you don’t mind throwing away. Get the floor as dry as you can.
Step 2 – Wash the Floor
Flood water is usually not the cleanest of water, so you’ll want to clean and disinfect your wood floor. You can do this with a mild cleaning agent. Use a brush to really work the floor to clean within the grain of the wood and between the floorboards.
Step 3 – Thoroughly Dry the Floor
This is an important step, as it will prevent mould growth. To completely dry the floor, you will need to make sure the area is well ventilated by opening doors and windows. Well placed electric fans aimed at the floor will help keep the air circulating. To completely dry out the wood floor could take several days, so be patient.
Step 4 – Sand Damaged Areas
If there is a little bit of damage to areas of the floor, those areas can often be repaired through sanding. It might be a good idea to sand the entire floor area, as this will give you a fresh surface to work with in the final step.
Step 5 – Stain or Paint the Floor
You can optionally re-stain or repaint your wood floor to make it look like new again.
Water Damaged Floor Repair – Replacing the Floor
Sometimes a water damaged wood floor is too far gone to salvage. Or maybe there are some portions of the floor that are too water damaged to be saved. In that case you are going to need to replace parts of the floor or even the entire floor. You will need some repair supplies, as well the knowledge of wood floor installation, all of which makes this a job better suited to professionals. Here’s a rundown of what needs to be done.
Recognise which floorboards need to be replaced
Floorboards that are water damaged beyond repair are easily visually identifiable. They will usually be some noticeable swelling and possible splitting. There could also be mould and mildew growth. All of these are signs that the floorboards need to be replaced. You could replace only the damaged floorboards, but you might need to replace them all if the damage is extensive.
Rip Out the Bad Floorboards
Removal of the damaged floorboards is only the first step. After that, check the floor base wood, if there is one, to see if it also needs to be replaced. You’ll know if it needs to be replaced if it is swelling or has any mould or mildew growth.
Dry the Area Under the Floor
This is a very important step that will prevent future mould and mildew growth. You need to make sure the base wood, concrete, or structural wood under the floor is completely dry. You can do this by making sure the area is well ventilated by opening doors and windows, and by using electric fans.
Install Your New Wood Floorboards
This is the hardest part of the whole process, as it requires skills and experience to properly install wood floors and make them fit perfectly flush with the wall. That means you should call a professional.
Where to Get Wood Floor Repair Supplies
BetaBoard is the leading supplier of home repair and renovation supplies. We’ve got what you need for wood floor repair. You can contact us to buy plywood for your wood floor base and to purchase other flooring materials. You can get in touch with us online, or you can visit one of our 5 store locations. We’re ready to assist you with your wood floor repairs.
