Wood floor buckling

[ttw4454]

I recently put down some 3/4" maple flooring in our kitchen. I made the mistake of checking the hot water supply before hooking up the supply line to the dishwasher. Approx .5-1 gallon of water came out and was quickly wiped up. Unfortunately, a bit later the seams started to buckle in that general area. Does anyone know if I put a dehumidifier at that spot the wood would contract where the buckle is not noticeable?

Thanks,

Tim, Michigan

[leejosepho]

I doubt the dehumidifier would do anything for you there, but it certainly would not likely do any harm. If the flooring does goes back to normal in a few days, you might do something about sealing that floor if you have not already planned to do so ... and if it does not return to normal, you might have to do some sanding and refinishing.

[Cookie]

Just an idea, it might be a stupid one, but, here goes.
What about rewetting that area alittle and then, weighing it down with something heavy.

[ttw4454]

Thanks for the replies. The flooring is prefinished already. I am wondering if I do have to sand and refinish how I would blend that in with the rest of the floor. I also thought about putting something heavy on it. I didn't know how long it would take to go back to normal (if it does at all). I will wait a few days and see what it looks like. I know I can have the guy who installed it come up and cut those boards out and replace them. I have extra flooring left over.

[Cass]

As it dries out it may buckle more, if it is going to cause a problem with the exposed area of the floor or the D/W sitting level then have the flooring guy replace the boards.

A fan blowing on the spot will dry it quicker.

[markts30]

I recently put down some 3/4" maple flooring in our kitchen.

Is it solid wood or laminate?
If it is laminate flooring, you will probably have to have the boards replaced...
If it is "real wood" you can re-finish it...

[Pewterpower]

I would question the quality of the flooring. It sounds like a laminated Pergo type flooring. If it buckled that quickly, then you might want to consider leaving a throw rug, or something like that, in front of the sink/dishwasher area. That part of the floor inherently is going to be prone to water spills.
My guess is that when you turned the water back on, alot of it got pooled up between the wall, and the unfinished edge of the flooring. That probably allowed it to wick and travel along a seam, until it surfaced where the damage is.

[ttw4454]

The floor is solid 3/4" maple pre finished. After seeing what is happening I believe it was a lot more than 1 gallon of water. I will put a fan and dehumidifier there and give it 7-10 days. If it relaxes a bit then great. If it doesn't I'll bite the bullet and have the boards replaced as I have some left over. Thanks all for your replies.

[toolaholic]

Wood has expanded,and pulled up the nails. This always happens after the fire dept.floods a home. Replace floor. Chances are You won't take this advice and
play around with it. Later You will. Top of wood sealed, bottom not ,wood curles.

[SteveW]

For what it's worth -

When I replaced my dishwasher, I naively used a compression union behind the dishwasher, without pressure testing it. It leaked... I only figured it out after a few days, so the subfloor and the bottom of my new real wood floor got soaked and buckled.

I put in a new water supply to the DW, ran a fan behind the DW for a couple days to dry out the subfloor, put the DW back in place, and waited. The buckle took about 6-8 WEEKS (not days) to settle down, and now it actually looks very nearly normal.

[master plumber mark]

Steve is probably %100 right on about your troubles....


you probably STILL have a leak and
you should investigate
further into that nasty dishwasher....

look closely at your connneciton and run some hot water
to be sure the stupid thing only leaks when hot water
goes through it.....

been there and done that...

[D.Smith]

Get a restoration company out there with his fancy meters. More than likely you have moisture still present between sub and hardwood. Simple dehu and fan will not remove it.


Where there is moisture there is a chance for mold so you dont want to wait on this too long trying to solve this. Your flooring can be refinished provided its hardwood if its pergo or laminante it will have to be replaced.