One of the most frequent problems we re called in to address is water damage to hardwood floors.
Hardwood floor water damage.
In fact most people avoid buying solid hardwood flooring for fear that they will have to deal with repairing or replacing a water damaged floor.
Resolve the water source problem.
However heavily cupped wood cannot be sanded down flat.
Sand water damaged wood flooring.
When water sits on top of hardwood floors it can permanently ruin the hardwood as the wood will absorb the water through its pores causing warping and discoloration.
By the time a chicagoland homeowner calls us for help the problem will almost always require refinishing and often the replacement of some or all of the damaged wood.
No homeowner wants to hear the two dreaded words.
Water damage to your hardwood floor.
Depending on the size of the repair area hand sand with a rubber sanding block see b or machine sand with a random orbit sander.
First remove any wax or surface finish.
Use fine steel wool to remove wax and sandpaper to remove a surface finish.
So if you have a flood or water damage or even just a spill on your hardwood flooring you ll want to remove the water and dry your floors as quickly as possible.
This is called cupping heavy sanding with a drum or orbital sander can actually take down some minor high areas.
The truth is water is really harmful for any kind of wood flooring that isn t water resistant.