How to Detect Water Damage to Hardwood Floors

Hardwood floors are good-looking and durable, but installing and repairing them can be expensive. Thus, the last thing you want is water damage to the wood. It is costly to repair and creates other issues such as mold. Keep an eye on your floor and inspect it from time to time to keep water damage from becoming an issue.

Instructions

1. Look for warping or cupping in the floor. Run your foot across the floor slats. If you feel every seam, then you have cupping, and if you feel a rise in the center of the slats, you have warping. Either one indicates moisture issues.

2. Look for spots or stains on the floor where the finish is dull or gone, indicating a repeated exposure to moisture. Also look for raised wood over a particular spot such as near a sink or around windows and doors, indicating expanded wood from water.

3. Go around the edges of the floor where it meets the walls. Keep an eye out for mold growth in dark corners that aren't exposed to much light. Use a flashlight if you need to. Mold is a red flag that you have moisture problems or water damage.

4. Go into crawl spaces under the floor if possible and look for water, or evidence that water has a tendency to collect. Eroded areas and potholes indicate damage. Also look for mold growth in the crawl space, proving that moisture is an issue, and that the floors probably have some damage.

Tips & Warnings

• Wear a mask in crawl spaces if you suspect you will find mold. You do not want to breathe in the spores.

References

• Restoration SOS: Identifying Water Damage
• Superpages: How to Deal With Hardwood Floor Water Damage