engineered wood floor - water damage

andrewf75

Can any flooring experts tell me how resistant engineered wood floors are to damp underneath? We had a dishwasher leak and I think water has gone about a metre under the flooring (it is a floating floor - insert joke here!). I can feel some slight bumps where it has bulged, but if it doesn’t get any worse than that I’d be quite happy to live with it. Will the underside dry out eventually without the floor being lifted or is it going to cause serious mould issues?

I’ve actually just filed an insurance claim to be on the safe side, but we have a £300 excess so am still slightly unsure whether it is worth going through with the claim.



Cheers!

Aylesbury_Duck

Is the flooring glued or just clicked together? If the latter and the orientation suits, can you remove the affected planks and replace them?

I had a slight leak from a dehumidifier onto a solid wood floor. The floor bulged a little along the edge between two planks. I left it to dry naturally with a barrier around it so no-one trod on it. Luckily it was in a non-footfall part of a spare bedroom so I could leave it. After three months it has gone back to normal.

andrewf75

It is a click/lock system, but apparently not easy to take apart without damaging. If I lift the affected area to allow it to dry I think it almost certain I wouldn't be able to get it back down again so would need to get a fitter in anyway...

Aylesbury_Duck

andrewf75 wrote: »

It is a click/lock system, but apparently not easy to take apart without damaging. If I lift the affected area to allow it to dry I think it almost certain I wouldn't be able to get it back down again so would need to get a fitter in anyway...

It depends how it's been laid and if the orientation "suits" your problem. If the planks run aligned to the front of the dishwasher, presumably they only extend a short distance under the dishwasher and kitchen units? (Why would the fitter have gone to the trouble of flooring right up to the wall?) That would mean there's an accessible edge. With click/lock fitting, a gentle lift to about 20 degrees will normally unlock it. Re-fitting is the reverse procedure.

If they run perpendicular to the dishwasher, I can see it's a trickier situation and waiting for it to dry out and see how it responds is probably the best course of action.

andrewf75

Aylesbury_Duck wrote: »

It depends how it's been laid and if the orientation "suits" your problem. If the planks run aligned to the front of the dishwasher, presumably they only extend a short distance under the dishwasher and kitchen units? (Why would the fitter have gone to the trouble of flooring right up to the wall?) That would mean there's an accessible edge. With click/lock fitting, a gentle lift to about 20 degrees will normally unlock it. Re-fitting is the reverse procedure.

If they run perpendicular to the dishwasher, I can see it's a trickier situation and waiting for it to dry out and see how it responds is probably the best course of action.

Yes there is an accessible edge and I thought about doing it, but I googled and found people saying that the joints often break. Maybe I should just give it a try. If I can get the boards up I think I might ditch the insurance claim and just let the boards and subfloor dry out for a while and then put it down again

andrewf75

Hmm, tried unclicking it and it comes apart easily enough, but the way the planks are fitted around the kitchen units and under skirting means there is no easy way of lifting the area required.
Seems a bit over the top to get it taken up and relaid. My concern is if left will we get issues with mould underneath or will it dry out? I could kind of wedge something under the edge to let air in a bit, but I can feel that the underlay is wet. Guess I'll see what the insurance assessor says....

Aylesbury_Duck

andrewf75 wrote: »

Hmm, tried unclicking it and it comes apart easily enough, but the way the planks are fitted around the kitchen units and under skirting means there is no easy way of lifting the area required.
Seems a bit over the top to get it taken up and relaid. My concern is if left will we get issues with mould underneath or will it dry out? I could kind of wedge something under the edge to let air in a bit, but I can feel that the underlay is wet. Guess I'll see what the insurance assessor says....

Seems a bit over the top to get insurance involved, but you're better placed to me to see how bad the damage is. I would think the insurance assessor would price the removal and replacement of the required planks. I'd be surprised if it's as much or much more than your excess, so probably not worth claiming for anyway. If you can wedge something under it to help air circulation that would be a good idea, but don't lift it too high in case you distort the join permanently. Can you lay sheets of newspaper under there, allow them to soak up any excess moisture, remove them and repeat? Whatever you do, don't try to accelerate the drying by using heat. Let the material dry as naturally as possible, it will increase the chance if it retaining its form.

andrewf75

Aylesbury_Duck wrote: »

Seems a bit over the top to get insurance involved, but you're better placed to me to see how bad the damage is. I would think the insurance assessor would price the removal and replacement of the required planks. I'd be surprised if it's as much or much more than your excess, so probably not worth claiming for anyway. If you can wedge something under it to help air circulation that would be a good idea, but don't lift it too high in case you distort the join permanently. Can you lay sheets of newspaper under there, allow them to soak up any excess moisture, remove them and repeat? Whatever you do, don't try to accelerate the drying by using heat. Let the material dry as naturally as possible, it will increase the chance if it retaining its form.

It does seem over the top, but if the floor is to be lifted in order to dry it properly then it would be two call-outs once to take up and then another to relay/replace. That would surely be well over £300?

But the damage doesn't look too bad at all right now. If as you say I could keep shoving newspaper under, it might be fine. I'm leaning towards cancelling the insurance claim now. I just don't want to leave it and then find a huge mould issue months down the line.

Thanks for your help, its obviously a difficult one to comment on without seeing it

Chanes

In your place, I would use my insurance. The assessor they send usually has a good understanding of the scope of work needed, we had a hidden leak that cost a few thousand in repairs and the assessor explained what works were required and how it should be done by whoever we use to remedy things. I lack the practical knowledge and experience to comprehend the consequences and the insurance people were very, very helpful.

andrewf75

Thanks for the reply. I cancelled the insurance in the end. The damage is not too bad. I'm currently blasting the affected area with a fan 24/7 and it seems to be drying out OK. The surface of the boards is fine.
I think I made the right decision, but we'll see... maybe in a few months time, the floor will start bulging and cracking all over the place! But still, £300 will cover a few replacements boards.

maisie_cat

a few years ago our washing machine leaked and the engineered oak floor got quite wet, we left it to see what happened and nothing did, it dried out. But ours is 100% wood. not fibreboard or chipboard core, I suspect that wouldn't survive