Repairing your damaged wooden flooring is much cheaper than having the whole floor replaced, but most repairs require a professional floor fitter to create a seamless replacement that will not stick out like a sore thumb.
Water damaged wooden flooring is one of the most common issues.
We all have spillages in the home and generally this is fine on wooden flooring if it is cleared as soon as the accident occurs. But how do you repair wooden flooring that has been damaged by leaks or surface water that has been unnoticed in the home?
Depending on the quality and type of wooden flooring determines how resilient it is to water. Cheap laminate flooring has almost zero tolerance to water laying on the surface and can quickly seep through the joints and cause the planks to swell.
Laminate Flooring
Laminate flooring is made up of layers of MDF with a photographic water resistant top layer but once water gets through the joints it can be absorbed by the MDF fibre board rapidly. There are different types of laminate flooring on the market and some that have a higher resistance to surface water so can be used in more wet areas like kitchens and bathrooms.
It is not an easy task to repair laminate flooring because of the unique way it is fixed together using a progressive click system, which means each plank is connect to the next.
Engineered and Solid Wood Flooring
When thinking about areas for have solid wood or engineered wood flooring, we would not recommend having them installed in wet or humid areas such as bathrooms and laundry rooms. When wood is in a humid room or is subject to regular water on the floor, this can cause warping and cracking of the floor. As solid oak flooring is in it’s most natural form, it will absorb water naturally, which will damage the floor.
Water damaged wooden flooring
When dealing with real wood flooring and engineered flooring the first step would be to remove any surface water as quickly as possible using anything you can find to absorb water. Once the surface water has been dried you need to concentrate on the water that has seeped through the joints. Open all windows and doors immediately and turn on the central heating.
If you were quick to mop up the water this action would be enough, but if the water was standing for a long while then damage is likely and you will begin to notice warping of the floor.
Speak to a flooring expert from JG Flooring Solihull and we will give you advice on the best option. Sometimes you can screw down the problem areas to keep them in place and in more severe circumstances we can replace the damaged pieces if an exact match to the flooring is readily available.
In worst case scenarios it will inevitably mean ripping up the damaged floor and having a new wooden floor installed.f
