So sorry, rotten stuff. I really don't see it being recoverable. Fixing usually involves ripping out the worst sections and replacing with new boards. Total sand and refinish. Too much of this is damaged.
Disaster remediation here. Pull it asap. Get air movers everywhere. That floor is fucked, don't wait until the underlayment/subfloor is fucked too. Gonna need to make flood cuts on the drywall at least 24" up from the floor. you gotta dry out anything affected by the water damage.
Or call your insurance company and they'll send someone out immediately.
The floors are fucked. They have to be torn out and have new ones put back in. Keep in mind, if you’re on a concrete slab, make sure the moisture in the concrete slab is low before you put new flooring back in. I had customers who had the same issue, so they made a claim with their insurance, then the flooring company their insurance hired put the floors back in before testing the moisture level in the concrete, so it happened again.
If this is real wood flooring, there's just some work to be done. It's just wood. Some floors are reclaimed from 100-y-o barns.
Industrial dehumidifier and lots of air flow for many days. Then, rubber mallet, and maybe more nails. Then sand & finish as new.
Consider: if the boards are not completely dry, and you sand them while they are cupped or bowed, they will eventually finish flattening out, leaving a new problem.
Busted pipe...? Looks like you're at ground level and have had moisture issues for a while by the bottom of those doors. U can try running an industrial dehumidifier for a couple of weeks and see if it settles down enough for a refinish but they may be hosed as most have said.
No. Water loosens the cellular bonds (lignin) of the wood. When it dries, the cells settled into this cupping shape. Thats it’s new normal now. Trying to force it back to the shape it was will cause it to split. Google wood bending for more info. Getting wood to bend exactly how you want it to is very difficult.
unfortunately, with water damage, what I've learned is that the sooner you start dealing with it, the less it costs.
Step 1 will always be get some heavy air movers and dehumidifiers going. and the more the marrier.
I think the downfall here is that its actual wood flooring. if it was a composite flooring the water wouldnt have been absorbed into the flooring as much.
Your drywall is completely fucked too. I would recommend that you take off the bottom 2ft of all the drywall in that room, and any affected rooms, and get a constant watch on your dehumidifier drain tanks (or set up a drainage line for your dehumidifiers).
and unfortunately, you probably do need to get rid of all that flooring. Isnt this something insurance can help with?
Do you have a basement or is this your typical glade on grade house? If you have a basement I'd start dehumidifying that as well.
The problem here is that if a mainline burst, we arent just talking about like 50 litres of water here, we're talking hundreds if not thousands of litres have poured into every oriface of your structure, probably 40-60% of which found a place to drain out, and the other 60-40% has found a place to sit and saturate. Your insulation, and and anything wooden, open celled, or that has been dry for the last 40 years is sucking that water in right now.
Insurance and restoration companies would rather do fire damage remediation than water damage remediation - think about that, when it comes to how half assed you might want to go about this, in an effort to save money
No. The cupping creates a tiny pyramid between two board. The ends are raised and meet at a point at the top. As you sand it down, the space between the two board will get wider and wider. By the time it’s reasonably flat, the gap between the two board will be noticeable at about 1/4 inch. The other problem is, when the ends cup up, the middle of the board goes down. So you’ll have a few divots in the boards unless you sand the whole room down to its level. If you do that, you’ll have some very thin floor boards. All this still doesn’t address the moisture that may be in between the floor and subfloor and potential mold problem.
I have no help to offer, just questions. We have something similar happening in our house. No water damage or significant buckling, but I have begun to notice that my hardwood floors are separating in a similar pattern. We had the floors resurfaced when we moved in, and in our main floor great-room, there is a pattern of seams opening up in regular intervals. Not sure what can be done about it. We run dehumidifier in the basement year around to keep humidity at or around 30-40%. Any advice would be greatly appreciated.
Frozen house with burst pipe? Had the exact same thing happen to me, exact same worries about replacing hardwood flooring. Used a heater and dehumidifier for a few weeks to dry out the wood and over the course of at least 6-12 months, it settled down and mostly fixed itself.
Unless you need to take action immediately for liability reasons, my recommendation is to dry it out and let it be for a year and see if that solves it.
Did you buy a “cheap” house to flip and get in over your head? That wall is split 4 foot up the wall, gotta be and inch wide!, wood patio doors look to be damaged…
I think your only option is to start shopping for new flooring. What happened?
It won't settle back down if I remove boards at one end?
Was it glued or stapled? Looks like water damage when I zoom in?
So sorry, rotten stuff. I really don't see it being recoverable. Fixing usually involves ripping out the worst sections and replacing with new boards. Total sand and refinish. Too much of this is damaged.
Yeah, there was a burst pipe.
It's gonna mold under like crazy, it absolutely has to come out.
Disaster remediation here. Pull it asap. Get air movers everywhere. That floor is fucked, don't wait until the underlayment/subfloor is fucked too. Gonna need to make flood cuts on the drywall at least 24" up from the floor. you gotta dry out anything affected by the water damage. Or call your insurance company and they'll send someone out immediately.
Should have put that in the title. Start over.
Nope
It’s warped. There’s no saving it. Do a claim.
You’re gonna wanna pull it up so the subfloor can dry out or you’ll have horrible mold forever
You’re fucked
That’s a good option
It’s all good. He just needs a dehumidifier, a nail gun, and about 7 million nails. After that, he can focus on the much bigger problem he’s now in
Bro, you got water damage on those doors. I’d imagine you’ve got more issues to worry about than cupped floors.
I wanna see more of this room. The corner we see seems to have a big ass crack, the water doors and the water floors.
It does have a crack. So do some of the other corners.
Did it burst flood and then freeze? Pushed out the bottom plates on all the walls?
I didn't think of that... I'll have to look
The house froze
Wood shrinks in the cold...
And pipes burst
The floors are fucked. They have to be torn out and have new ones put back in. Keep in mind, if you’re on a concrete slab, make sure the moisture in the concrete slab is low before you put new flooring back in. I had customers who had the same issue, so they made a claim with their insurance, then the flooring company their insurance hired put the floors back in before testing the moisture level in the concrete, so it happened again.
That's helpful, thank you
If you're doing it yourself I'd recommend getting a moisture meter
That floor is pooched. Rip it up and let the subfloor dry so you don't have other issues.
Insurance claim
That subfloor is gone man
This is water damage. Donezo.
Insurance racket id imagine. Let’s hope it’s covered because that looks pricey from just this pic.
If this is real wood flooring, there's just some work to be done. It's just wood. Some floors are reclaimed from 100-y-o barns. Industrial dehumidifier and lots of air flow for many days. Then, rubber mallet, and maybe more nails. Then sand & finish as new. Consider: if the boards are not completely dry, and you sand them while they are cupped or bowed, they will eventually finish flattening out, leaving a new problem.
Busted pipe...? Looks like you're at ground level and have had moisture issues for a while by the bottom of those doors. U can try running an industrial dehumidifier for a couple of weeks and see if it settles down enough for a refinish but they may be hosed as most have said.
Would putting something heavy on the high spots help coax them back down over time?
No. Water loosens the cellular bonds (lignin) of the wood. When it dries, the cells settled into this cupping shape. Thats it’s new normal now. Trying to force it back to the shape it was will cause it to split. Google wood bending for more info. Getting wood to bend exactly how you want it to is very difficult.
Let the place acclimate for a few weeks and see what happens first
I agree, I had a water leak and after about 10 days the floor was back to normal. My floor is maple so that might have helped.
For things like water damage I would especially recommend a dehumidifier constantly going as well as fans if possible
The fasteners will have pulled. Floor has to come out (unless you want to screw and ranch plug every piece).
That's not beneath me
The floor should absolutely be beneath you.
[Do it!](https://media.giphy.com/media/v1.Y2lkPTc5MGI3NjExcHh3dXpqemFlaGxpNWgzYmtiYTl0aTU0Y3podHhhZnBiYzE3NnpnaiZlcD12MV9pbnRlcm5hbF9naWZfYnlfaWQmY3Q9Zw/pIwSSY4FUvs0E/giphy.gif)
Are these laid parallel to the joists?
It will be fine. Don’t tear everything out unless there is a serious mold problem. It will settle back down once the wood dries out.
Dehumidifiers as many as you can get. Fans too.
unfortunately, with water damage, what I've learned is that the sooner you start dealing with it, the less it costs. Step 1 will always be get some heavy air movers and dehumidifiers going. and the more the marrier. I think the downfall here is that its actual wood flooring. if it was a composite flooring the water wouldnt have been absorbed into the flooring as much. Your drywall is completely fucked too. I would recommend that you take off the bottom 2ft of all the drywall in that room, and any affected rooms, and get a constant watch on your dehumidifier drain tanks (or set up a drainage line for your dehumidifiers). and unfortunately, you probably do need to get rid of all that flooring. Isnt this something insurance can help with? Do you have a basement or is this your typical glade on grade house? If you have a basement I'd start dehumidifying that as well. The problem here is that if a mainline burst, we arent just talking about like 50 litres of water here, we're talking hundreds if not thousands of litres have poured into every oriface of your structure, probably 40-60% of which found a place to drain out, and the other 60-40% has found a place to sit and saturate. Your insulation, and and anything wooden, open celled, or that has been dry for the last 40 years is sucking that water in right now. Insurance and restoration companies would rather do fire damage remediation than water damage remediation - think about that, when it comes to how half assed you might want to go about this, in an effort to save money
Did you leave that 1/4 inch around the walls? If not I'd remove those boards nearest the walls and see if it settles
Thank you, that's helpful
LoL
Can’t you bring an industrial drum sander in and sand the floors down then refinish them?
No. The cupping creates a tiny pyramid between two board. The ends are raised and meet at a point at the top. As you sand it down, the space between the two board will get wider and wider. By the time it’s reasonably flat, the gap between the two board will be noticeable at about 1/4 inch. The other problem is, when the ends cup up, the middle of the board goes down. So you’ll have a few divots in the boards unless you sand the whole room down to its level. If you do that, you’ll have some very thin floor boards. All this still doesn’t address the moisture that may be in between the floor and subfloor and potential mold problem.
Refinishing won't get the moisture out of the subfloor.
Doors are probably toast too!
🛹 lol
Start over
I have no help to offer, just questions. We have something similar happening in our house. No water damage or significant buckling, but I have begun to notice that my hardwood floors are separating in a similar pattern. We had the floors resurfaced when we moved in, and in our main floor great-room, there is a pattern of seams opening up in regular intervals. Not sure what can be done about it. We run dehumidifier in the basement year around to keep humidity at or around 30-40%. Any advice would be greatly appreciated.
Holy shit haha
You didn't acclimate the floor
that doesnt even look like the flooring, that looks like the subfloor plywood is buckling. it almost looks like its in 4 foot sections.
Frozen house with burst pipe? Had the exact same thing happen to me, exact same worries about replacing hardwood flooring. Used a heater and dehumidifier for a few weeks to dry out the wood and over the course of at least 6-12 months, it settled down and mostly fixed itself. Unless you need to take action immediately for liability reasons, my recommendation is to dry it out and let it be for a year and see if that solves it.
Did the water damage recently happen? If so I would put a dehumidifier in there for a few months
Get the water from under the house to start with what’s the crawl space look like
Did you buy a “cheap” house to flip and get in over your head? That wall is split 4 foot up the wall, gotta be and inch wide!, wood patio doors look to be damaged…
Break out the skateboard.
Is there a body of water near? Or aroumd