Wooden Floor Leak

[MancBrick]

I need some advice...

I have just got back from my honeymoon to find the flooring under my kitchen seemed to be buckled. i pulled up the vinyl and underneath this was wooden floor boards that were soaked and starting to buckle and warp. The culprit was the inpipe for the water to the washing machine which was leaking quite badly under the kitchen unit but above the floorboards

I have stopped the leak and taken out the washing machine for the moment and have a dehumidifyer to aid drying. it doesn't look too bad but there is definate buckling which i hope could go down as drys.

My question is to what is going on below. this is all going on in my kitchen which is on wood floors boards that are on wooden joists underfloor.

I have no idea if any water could/would have dripped underneath as the floor boards are not water tight at the edges. If it has should i leave it to dry naturally or intervene. The obvious answer would be to pull up a floor board and inspect but there is no obvious access point without doing any further damage.

Any advice or examples people have had from past experiences would be greatly appreciated!

Thanks

 

[foxhole]

Floorboards don't usually buckle as they have a decent expansion gap, and are securely fixed maybe yours were laid too tight together? You need to lift to check there is no other bigger leak.

 

[WoodYouLike]

Floorboards don't usually buckle as they have a decent expansion gap, and are securely fixed maybe yours were laid too tight together? You need to lift to check there is no other bigger leak.

They definitely buckle when there's been a leak as bad as described above! Decent expansion gap or not.

The dehumidifier will help to dry things out, especially if you don't cover the floorboards yet. Check air bricks etc and use a humidity reader (a simple one will suffice) to see if the air humidity keeps low even after the dehumidifier is switched off.

 

[^woody^]

Rapid artificial drying may cause the timber to dry twisted or split once dry and when/if you try to fix them back down

It may be that the floorboards will never return to a perfectly flat state, but a few extra screw fixings to gradually pull the boards down to the joists may help.

 

[MancBrick]

Thank you for all the comments above.

Maybe buckling was too strong a word i suppose they are more warped and engorged than buckled. Now that it has been drying for a couple of days the damage is getting better.

I will buy a damp detector and check it at the weekend it will try and get one that i can fit under the floor boards to see if any water is trapped below. I am now comfortable with the upper side of the floor boards my only concern is any damp underneath.

Thank you for the comment on the dehumifying, however, the dehumidifyer i am using is not what you would consider industrial it is more a very powerful home one and i am only leaving it on for the eveing and overnight but so far in 48 hours has removed a good couple of litres of water.

Any other recomendations?

 

[maltaron]

I would not be too concerned about any water under the floorboards. As said, check that the air bricks are clear and that will dry out naturally. There are a lot of older houses with no oversite concrete under the floorboards and it is not unkown for water to be permanently underneath.

 

[MancBrick]

I would not be too concerned about any water under the floorboards. As said, check that the air bricks are clear and that will dry out naturally. There are a lot of older houses with no oversite concrete under the floorboards and it is not unkown for water to be permanently underneath.

Thank you that is reassuring and what i was hoping to hear. Just to clarify, am i just checking the air bricks for damp? humidity? blockages? or anything else in particular?

 

[WoodYouLike]

For blockage.

It needs to be open to create a normal air flow underneath the boards, removing excess moist to the outside of the house.

 

[MancBrick]

For blockage.

It needs to be open to create a normal air flow underneath the boards, removing excess moist to the outside of the house.

Brilliant.

thanks again