Water damage to laminate wood floor

Sierra Oscar

Looking for some advice on my laminate wood floor. I had a leak in my hot press and water got in under the laminate wood floor in the adjoining hallway.

Leak was sorted quickly and there wasn't too much water, but the wooden floor has buckled slightly at three joints. It's not that noticeable visually, but you can feel the joints are uneven when walking over them.

Just wondering if I should bite the bullet and lift and replace the damaged section (probably around 2 square meters in total), or are they likely to settle down with time?

I'm just concerned that in a years time I'll have cracked sections of wooden floor and so on if I don't sort it now.

goz83

They won’t settle down and will remain warped. My dads apartment was flooded a few months ago from the apartment above. The laminate foor got soaked and caused the wood to warp and shrink as it dried. It was left in place for months before being ripped up.

It won’t get any worse if it’s dry. so if you’re happy enough, leave it be.

Sierra Oscar

goz83 wrote: »

They won’t settle down and will remain warped. My dads apartment was flooded a few months ago from the apartment above. The laminate foor got soaked and caused the wood to warp and shrink as it dried. It was left in place for months before being ripped up.

It won’t get any worse if it’s dry. so if you’re happy enough, leave it be.

Thanks for the advice. I reckon I'll leave it for a couple of weeks and reassess it then.

Sleepy

Would it be worth trying to wet the laminate again and place a heavy flat weight (say a piece of marine ply with some old dumbells or similar on it) to try and warp the boards straight again?

Sierra Oscar

Sleepy wrote: »

Would it be worth trying to wet the laminate again and place a heavy flat weight (say a piece of marine ply with some old dumbells or similar on it) to try and warp the boards straight again?

I've done something similar since when the floor was still wet. Placed a spare square floor tile that I have over one of the joints with around 40kg of weights placed on top.

I had a look under this morning - it's hard to tell if it's having much of an impact. I'll leave it there for a while yet.

I spoke to the guy who installed the floor earlier today. He recommended letting it dry out for a month and it could go back into position depending on the amount of water that got underneath it. If not he said it might be worth replacing the damaged section as the laminate could peel off over time.

Calahonda52

Have you spares?
was it glued?