Key Takeaways. If you have water under your floorboards, remove floor coverings and dispose of damaged paper products, dry the area, clean and disinfect the soaked floorboards, ventilate the room, and contact a professional like ServiceMaster of Lake Shore for complete restoration services.
The Risks of Water Damage
If water gets underneath the flooring, it can cause the planks to swell, warp, or buckle. This can result in unsightly gaps, a wavy appearance, or even a complete failure of the flooring. Water damage can also lead to mold growth, which can be hazardous to your health.
Set up fans to increase airflow and help evaporate moisture. Position them to blow air across the floor. Use a dehumidifier to reduce humidity levels in the room. This will help draw moisture out of the wood and air. If safe and suitable, use a space heater to warm the area, which can help speed up evaporation.
I used a wet /dry vacuum and a large funnel to draw the water up throught the floorboards. I simply placed the funnel over the floorboards to widen the area under vacuum. Ithen put the vacuum over the funnel's narrow end. I activated it and let it run for several hours.
Most wood floors flooded with water will take weeks or more to fully dry out. In some circumstances, especially with a wooden subfloor, removing the wood flooring is necessary to fully dry out the subfloor. Total replacement of all the flooring is necessary in these cases.
Dry the Subfloor:
Use fans, dehumidifiers, or even a wet-dry vacuum to dry water under laminate flooring and the subfloor. Ensure proper ventilation to accelerate the drying process. You can also use towels to absorb excess moisture.
Given the proper conditions, mold will start to germinate and grow as early as 24 hours after encountering the moisture source. In 3 to 12 days, the mold spores will colonize. In 18-21 days, the mold can become visible. In general, the longer that moisture is present, the greater the chance for mold to grow and spread.
To dry out vinyl surfaces, you can use fans, a heater, towels, or a mop. If the water gets under the flooring coming from an area below the floors (like a pipe leak), then you need to fix that first. Then you should follow up with a shop vac and/or dehumidifier to eliminate excess moisture.
To prevent water from coming up through a slab after rain, consider installing proper drainage systems such as a French drain and waterproofing the slab to mitigate water seepage effectively.
If it's not the pipes or the foundation, the water might be coming in through your home's windows and doors. Improperly sealed windows can leak on a rainy day, and the water can drain down the wall and into the floors and subfloors. If this happens, you need to start by sealing the windows with caulk.
If you are doing the cleanup yourself, use a sump pump to remove water. Follow up with a wet vac, taking care to remove as much moisture as possible around baseboards and vents. For less-extensive water damage or flooding, a mop, bucket, and towels may suffice.
Remediation requires stopping the water leak below your floor covering. After this, you will need to remove the top floor — the floorboards of wood flooring, carpeting, tile, linoleum, or other flooring materials — so that the subfloor can be exposed to open air, which will dry it out.
If water gets trapped under flooring, it can cause mold to grow, which poses a health risk if left untreated. If water damage goes unnoticed, the moisture can spread to the subfloor, causing damage that will require a completely new flooring installation.
It only takes as little as 24 hours for mold to start growing under wet laminate flooring, if the water is dirty, it has come from a dishwasher, outside groundwater, a toilet or dirty carpet it can start growing bacteria even quicker, in as little as 12 hours.
Stop or Identify the Water Source
This may need to be done professionally, but you can try and locate the water source yourself. Most of the time if you listen closely, you'll hear water running. If you can't find the source, contact a local professional to examine your flooring.
If a peril that's covered by your homeowners insurance policy results in a plumbing leak under your slab creating a slab leak, your homeowners insurance policy might help pay to tear out and replace the slab and repair the water damage to your home.
This process can take months or even years to destroy your foundation. However, a large enough crack in your foundation can be destroyed by moisture in as few as 72 hours.
Warped and Buckled Planks: One of the primary consequences of water seepage is the warping and buckling of vinyl planks. When exposed to water, the core material of the flooring can expand, causing the individual planks to warp and lift.
Yes, mold can grow under vinyl flooring if moisture becomes trapped underneath the flooring material. Vinyl flooring is not a breathable material, which means that moisture cannot escape through the flooring.
Ensure that all moisture is removed from the surface, seams, and edges. You can use a fan or a dehumidifier to help speed up the drying process, especially if the spill was large. After the area is dry, inspect the laminate flooring for any signs of swelling, warping, or discoloration.
A single water leak can lead to mold growth if not fixed quickly. Mold loves moist places and can start growing in 24 to 48 hours. Even small water damage can cause mold to grow. It's key to fix water damage fast to lower the water leak mold risk.
Mould will easily grow and spread if the right conditions are present. So, dehumidifiers don't kill mould, but they can help to prevent it from growing inside your home by reducing humidity. However, the best way to deal with it is to get rid of its source.