Have you or one of your clients ever experienced a water soaked hardwood floor and had it buckle, warp, and crack? Can the hardwood floor actually be saved? The answer is "yes," hardwood floors can be saved following a water loss. Here's how professionals do it.
Modern, real hardwood floors are designed with tow channels called "flutes" on the underside of each board which allows the wood to naturally expand and contract without damaging the finish on the top side of the wood. Professional restoration companies will use special hardwood floor drying systems to force hot, dry air into the flutes and also apply negative pressure suction mats to draw water out of the wood flooring. This way the floor is actually dried from the bottom up. By using this method, cupping and associated refinishing costs can be reduced or even eliminated.
This is a picture of a professional hardwood floor drying system known as the Rescue Mat System manufactured by Dri-Eaz products.
Of course, the longer the hardwood floors are wet, the greater chance that permanent damage such as buckling will occur; so, time is of the essence when dealing with any water damage scenario.
As the owner of a water damage restoration company, Environmental CPR (www.envirocpr.com), I have used this system myself and have great success with it.
If you or one of your clients have a water-soaked hardwood floor, get a professional restoration company trained in drying out hardwood floors out to the property right away. In the SF East Bay, look us up at www.envirocpr.com.
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