How To Dry Timber Floors
Timber flooring is a type of flooring that has been crafted and cut from various species of trees in different colours, textures and cuts. Timber flooring and laminate flooring can sometimes be confused given their similar appearance, but timber flooring is traditional wood that has been cut from trees whereas laminate flooring is made of a synthetic material that imitates the timber-finish. In most domestic properties traditional carpets, timber flooring, laminate flooring, tiles and concrete are used on the flooring structures depending on the property and your requirements. Issues can arise with timber flooring if there has been water leaking inside your home that has caused pools of water over your floors, resulting in timber that has become saturated with water. In this specialised article we’ll discuss how you can dry your timber flooring in the event of an unexpected flood inside your property and what steps you can take to ensure the job is done properly. If timber flooring is not dried effectively other complications such as mould and structural damage can result in increasing costs and stress.
How Saturated is the Timber?
If you have experienced only a minor flooding indoors from a leaking tap, a small leak from a pipe or water that has been spilled by accident, it is easy to dry your timber flooring quickly without too much time expenditure. For small areas of water damage where the water has not been left for longer than 30 minutes, along with a low amount of water saturation to the timber flooring, you can certainly use dry towels to dry the area and absorb as much water as you can. To assess how saturated the timber flooring is it’s best to identify how much water has entered your property and how long it has been sitting there for. If it is superficial flood damage you can hire an air blower and carpet drying fans to dry the area effectively.
For water that has been standing for more than 30 – 60 minutes, the water will most likely have infiltrated the underlying structures below the timber flooring. This will require a professional flood damage specialist who will remove the top timber flooring as well as the water saturated underlay. If the timber flooring is too damaged the same specialist will arrange similar timber flooring or the same flooring to replace the existing ones. The underlay will also be removed and replaced so that there is no risk of mould developing. You can see how saturated the timber flooring is by looking at it and also by touching it or stepping on it once you have removed the saturated towels. If you suspect there is water deeper beneath the flooring we recommend phoning a professional to commence remediation works right away.
How We Dry Timber Flooring
We have undertaken timber floor drying all across Melbourne and all surrounding suburbs for over 20 years. We know that the best course of action is immediate action when it comes to water damage, which is why we offer an unmatched service with 1 hour dispatch to anywhere in Melbourne as well as 24/7 availability on 1300 305 030. We use trained professionals to dry timber flooring with the correct water extraction equipment, water meters, carpet drying fans, dehumidifiers and other equipment to ensure we assess the water damage first before coming up with the correct drying plan. We first identify the source of the leak and fix that or call upon a certified contractor to resolve it as soon as possible. After this we will remove all items in the water damaged areas to ensure the least amount of water gets into contact with other parts of your property. Following this we will lift the timber flooring and extract the underlay from below to dispose of it appropriately. We will also either dry the timber flooring if they can be salvaged or replace it with the same or very similar alternative. We then use air blowers and dehumidifiers to dry the underlying structures and remove excess air moisture. We will monitor this for 1 day and more depending on how long the remediation works will take. If you are based in Melbourne and have experienced flooding indoors and water damage to your timber flooring call the experts at Kleen-Tech to restore your property to pre-loss condition as soon as possible on 1300 305 030.