REPAIRED OR REPLACED AT NO COST TO YOU
Did you know in most cases insurance covers water damaged floors and interiors? This means no out-of-pocket costs to you. If you think you may have water damage, call us for a free estimate.
If we find water damage, we will contact your insurance company on your behalf and work through the claims process for you. It’s time to restore your home back to its original comfort and beauty so it can safely be enjoyed for years to come.
Water Damaged Floor Repair
Leaks from your air conditioner, standing water and severe storms in Tampa, FL, can all damage your engineered hardwood flooring. If you don’t repair or replace the laminate floors right away, the water damage will quickly result in mold and even weaken your home’s foundation.
To avoid serious health and financial consequences stemming from water-damaged flooring, you must act fast. Yeager Flooring is available to dispatch a clean-up and restoration team of flooring specialists as soon as possible to your home or business.
Common Causes and Signs of Water-Damaged Flooring
Many homeowners in and around Tampa, FL, face water-damaged flooring at some point. That’s because the area is susceptible to severe summer storms that bring heavy rains and flooding.
But leaks around your home, especially near the air conditioner, can also cause significant damage to your flooring. If you notice subfloor or wood flooring has excess moisture, you need your flooring inspected for damage. Signs of water-damaged flooring include:
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Water Damaged Floors Repair Company
Water damage to flooring can be a major headache for homeowners in Tampa, Florida. When a floor is exposed to water or moisture, it can lead to warped boards and weakened structural support, as well as mold growth. If you’re faced with water damaged floors in your Tampa area home, it’s important to know the steps necessary for repair.
Do I Have Water Damage?
Water Damaged Wood Flooring
The first step is assessing the damaged wood flooring; determine the extent of the water exposure and whether it has affected underlying elements like insulation or wiring. Whenever possible, remove any standing water with a wet-dry vacuum or other extraction equipment immediately. Then take time to thoroughly dry out the affected area before continuing with repairs. Depending on the type of flooring that was impacted by water, you may need to replace damaged panels or tiles entirely. Any salvaged materials should be dried completely before reinstallation.
Water Damaged Hardwood Flooring
In some cases, new flooring may be necessary if there is extensive damage from standing water. Board replacement often requires the removal of existing flooring and installation of new sub-flooring material before laying down fresh boards or tiles. If your property has hardwood floors that have been damaged by moisture, you’ll need a skilled specialist who can properly sand and refinish them so they look brand new again.
When to Consider Refinishing Hardwood Floors
You can sand, refinish, and re-coat water-damaged hardwood floors in some situations. It’s important to keep in mind, however, that restaining a hardwood floor can cause the color of the stain to appear slightly different than it did before. In some cases, the entire floor may need to be refinished. Even if only a few planks are damaged, there may be differences where the stain is applied in the areas where the repaired planks meet the original planks.
Refinishing Steps
Follow these steps when refinishing hardwood floors:
- Repair the Water Damage to Hardwood Floors
- Before refinishing a hardwood floor, it’s important to resolve the source of the water damage. Make sure that you repair the cause of the water damage to ensure that further damage doesn’t occur.
- Choose the Planks You Will Replace
- It’s important to identify which planks are damaged by water and need to be replaced. However, you should also remove some planks surrounding the water-damaged area. Water damage in hardwood flooring is not always visible, so removing surrounding planks will ensure that hidden damage doesn’t cause further problems.
- Replace the Subfloor and Add New Hardwood Planks
- Before replacing hardwood planks, it’s essential to remove any areas of the plywood subfloor that may be weakened or moldy. You should also allow the concrete floor underneath the subfloor to fully dry before replacing any of the hardwood flooring. Flooring craftsmen can then begin to replace the subfloor and the hardwood planks.
- Sand and Refinish the Floor
- Once the new hardwood planks are in place, you can sand, restain, and refinish the floor. Sanding and restaining the entire floor can eliminate the risk of color differences between new and old wood planks.
Considerations for Prefinished Wood Flooring
There may be some times when you shouldn’t try to refinish water-damaged hardwood floors. If you have prefinished wood flooring, you should not try to refinish it because the protective coating that’s applied by a factory can be difficult to match.
Hardwood Floors
It’s important to consider both cost and safety when deciding on how best to approach repairing your floors after water damage has occurred in your Tampa home. Although replacing entire sections of floorboards or tiles may be more expensive up front than patchwork repairs, leaving compromised structures in place could make your home less stable over time and increase the likelihood of further damage down the road due to weakened components beneath your feet that are no longer structurally sound.
When to Replace Your Entire Floor
Whenever possible, use quality materials for all repairs. While an inexpensive fix might seem tempting at first glance, spending more money upfront could actually save you cash over time since better quality materials will likely last longer and require fewer future repairs than shoddy products purchased just because they were cheaper at the time of purchase.
In situations where your floor is salvageable, you may still consider a replacement. As unwanted as water damage is, it can be an opportunity to install new flooring and protect your home from future incidents. When browsing flooring options, consider materials like laminate, vinyl, carpet, and tile, which protect against water. If you choose hardwood floors, be sure to take steps to waterproof and preserve them.
Finally, when selecting a contractor specializing in floor repair after water damage, it’s prudent to choose one who has documented experience dealing with this type of project. Visit local customer review forums and websites for references from those who have had successful work done in the past by any given contractor before making a final decision on whom to hire for this job.
