water damage to hardwood floors

[HowardH]

This is for you floor contractors where I need some help. We have hardwoods in our master closet. We have a half bath/commode closet right next to it and we didn't notice for a day or two that the water line into the toilet had sprung a leak.  I ran underneath the wall that divides that room from the closet and it got under about the first 5 feet of the hardwoods.  They are oak. They have swelled and cupped. I have a moisture meter and did some testing different parts of the closet and the dry, flat areas are about 10%.  The "wet" areas are about 20%.  We fixed the leak but I was wondering what I should do about the hardwoods.  Will they flatten on their own over time or do I need to sand the entire closet and re-stain/poly? It's a little hard to see but the first pic is where the wood has cupped.  The further you go back, the dryer they get and the second pic shows the relative positions.  I'd appreciate any advice.

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[Holzhacker]

They may flatten out a bit as they dry but probably not completely. Going back to total flat is unlikely.
Unless you are looking at selling just leave it alone. You can of course sand and refinish but ...

 

[HowardH]

I like that idea...

 

[Cheese]

I’d also just let them dry out and see what you’re left with. As said, they’ll never go back to absolutely flat but you may luck out and they may get to within 1/32” proud.  Be patient it takes some time, 3-4 weeks isn’t unusual.

My experience is that oak is more likely to lay down again while maple is a real mess.

 

[Peter_C]

Got a dehumidifier? Or know of one you can borrow? Otherwise turn the A/C on if you got that. Get the room humidity as low as possible. Then get fans blowing directly on the wood.

Past that, inside the walk in closet? Who cares...people pay extra for wood that isn't perfectly flat.

 

[peter halle]

Dehumidifier and fans.  Get the moisture out of the room.  The wood will cup up towards the dry side of the equation initially but as others have said, it will usually calm down for the most degree.

NOW that being said, nobody knows what might grow below in the mean time.

Peter

 

[HowardH]

Thanks for all the great ideas.  I just ordered a dehumidifier.  Hopefully it will suck the moisture out of there. 

 

[Max Fracas]

I had something similar happen to me.  We had new hardwood put in a room and the adjacent bathroom toilet overflowed.  The new hardwood cupped badly.  We thought we’d have to replace the hardwood, but after a few months you couldn’t tell there had been a problem.  For what it’s worth, I live in NE Louisiana — a high humidity and high temp climate. 

 

[HowardH]

we are just down I20 from you... Dallas. Very humid.

 

[Bob Metzger]

Dishwasher failure in my kitchen did the same thing to my floor.  I was sick to my stomach but decided to wait
until dry to try and fix.  Over the next couple months it resolved about 95% back to normal.  The last tiny bit of
permanent damage is so minor I won't even attempt to try to perfect it.  Hopefully you will have similar luck!

 

[deepcreek]

Definitely give the wood plenty of time to dry out before refinishing.  Use a moisture meter to check the content compared to an area that did not get wet.  I have seen people refinish cupped flooring too soon and it creates a reverse cup when they return to equilibrium.