Oak floor got wet

[engineer2]

I know we have some flooring experts here.
Had a new 3/4" x 5" prefinished oak flooring stapled and poly glued to the plywood subfloor.
Half of it got soaked form a plumbing leak.
I had it professionally dried but the boards are now cupped about 1/16".
The question is tear out and replace, or sand and refinish?

 

[rlitman]

Is this a question for the insurance settlement, or a DIY project?

Personally, I'd try to give it a few months to dry. It might just get back into shape with a little help from a dehumidifier, but it can take some time.

 

[Zeke]

You won't be able to replicate the factory finish. However, since it is more or less permanently install, you don't have much of a choice. But if it's engineered flooring AKA laminate, you can't sand it.

 

[TommyK]

You need to talk to a wood floor refinisher but I think it would be a challenge to get it flat again.

 

[Rudyjr]

Daughter and some good friends of ours just went through this same thing with wet oak flooring. Both floors eventually laid back down and look just like they did before. Both took several months to go back down completely.

 

[larry4406]

Prefinished floor I think you are SOL on fixing it. Demo, dry out, then lay new IF you can get it.

Note the bevels and grooves between the boards. This is because they can't control the subfloor flatness. Thus they cheat and knock the corners off so you don't notice as you walk across. You can't get in there to sand and if you are lucky you have maybe 1/32" of real wood so it's gone with anything beyond a light sand. Prefinished goes out of style as often as the wind blows so unless you have a stash you are unlikely to find a match.

Folks like prefinished because it's cheaper and you don't loose 4-7 days of finishing and the dust.

I like traditional 3/4" sand on site floors for the reasons above. Yes it's a mess cleaning up after with the dust. We use Minwax stains on ours thus can always stain match and easy repairs.

Water damage is a PIA. Good luck.

 

[engineer2]

Just to be clear, this is solid wood, not laminate. Note I said 3/4" oak.
I agree it may take several months to get flatter. I've see this too.
Yes, insurance is involved. Yes it is covered. Yes, I can still get the same flooring.
Insurance is offering to tear it out, but it is glued to the subfloor in addition to being stapled, so it may be a mess. I suppose the experts know how to deal with it.
I have ways to replicate the smoothness of the factory finish, but it probably won't be anything a flooring guy may want to do.
I like sand-on-site because of the flatness, which is why I'm considering it.
I may lean towards tear-out and let a contractor deal with it.
I was 1/3 done with the first floor, so this throws another wrench in the works.

 

[Todd.Brock]

Let the insurance company know it's glued, have the contractor quote for replacing damaged subfloor, and the adjuster should be able to account for it.

 

[engineer2]

Let the insurance company know it's glued, have the contractor quote for replacing damaged subfloor, and the adjuster should be able to account for it.

Did just that.

 

[kwschumm]

If it's solid hardwood you might have a chance at saving it. We had red oak, narrower planks than 5". A plumbing leak in the kitchen caused horrible cupping and we thought it was shot. We dried it out the best we could and then used floor fans pointed at it, thought it was hopeless but after a few days it dried out and laid flat, looked the same as before.

 

[jake00]

I do hardwood for a living .

IF it dries out, it may flatten What's the moisture content of it? The subfloor?

If it dries and is not flat, Sand and refinish the whole floor, you'll lose the microbevel.

DO NOT sand if it's not dry, If you do, Eventually it will dry and then appear to be crowned

 

[engineer2]

What's the moisture content of it? The sub floor?

It was 6% and 11% when I bought it. After the disaster. It's 7% and 12% after drying. My pin-type meter isn't so good on plywood or MDF. The insurance guy had an Extech inductive meter, I don't know what readings he got.

i'm OK with loosing the micro-bevel and having asmooth floor.

Jake, if the insurance company dicks with me or if we agree to an expert opinion, can you do it? The adjuster was a college kid. Any hard questions had to be referred to his boss.