Water!!!

[Great-Uncle-Bulgaria]

Well, after many hours sanding with a hand sander I finally sealed my parquet floor. It's a floating tongue & groove type. I was well happy with the results and was just in the process of fitting the strip across the threshold of the door when I accidentally drilled through a water pipe from the heating system! My pipe and stud detector hadn't detected the pipe probably due to the fact that it was plastic. Anyway, at this point I had high pressure water spurting out (luckily only cold, as the heating is not currently on). I was able to switch the water off within 2 minutes, but there was some residual water in the system that was still under pressure, and I guess that is took a further minute to actually stem the flow. I immediately began mopping up the surface water, but I have no idea just how much is actually under the floor itself. I have a small heater in the room, and I am running a dehumidifier 24x7 which has extracted several litres so far. At the moment the floor looks fine, but I am obviously waiting for the horrors to surface. Does anyone know what I should be expecting? Perhaps warping, rotting, or mould? Or will the dehumidifier help prevent this? I appreciate any advice you guys can offer - I'm so depressed!

See the link for a picture:

http://s99.photobucket.com/albums/l285/bulgarblast/?action=view&current=OMG.jpg

 

[WoodYouLike]

Looks nice
How long agao did this happen? yesterday? earlier this week?
Warping of the wood you will notice almost immediately (will, gave or take two days).
Removing water as soon as you notice it is always the best solutions, the de-humidifier and heating will help also.
If after three - four days none of the blocks come up, 9 times out of 10 you're fine and you can carry on finishing the floor.

 

[Great-Uncle-Bulgaria]

Hi WoodYouLike, thanks for you comments.

The problem occurred on Friday afternoon, but I wasn't able to source a dehumidifier until Saturday. At the moment there is no sign of warping. All the surface water was removed within 15 mins of the leak, but I am mainly concerned about the water that is - or could be - underneath the flooring. As mentioned in my previous post, this is a floating type floor (well, it definitely is now...haha!).

The tongue & groove blocks were glued together using PVA parquet adhesive and laid over a foam underlay (like the type generally used for laminate flooring). It's this cavity that I'm worried about, as I have no way of actually knowing how much trapped water there is

I guess I'm hoping that heating the room and running the dehumidifier 24/7 for a few weeks will resolve the problem. Is this an unreasonable expectation in your opinion?

 

[WoodYouLike]

If any water is indeed left underneath you will notice that within a few days, so expectations are right (bit long, but you know what I mean )

 

[Great-Uncle-Bulgaria]

Thanks mate! Your advice is appreciated.

Hopefully I'll get lucky...

 

[Great-Uncle-Bulgaria]

Ok. I have some slight warping in an area of about 3sq feet around the water leak site. It is very slight though. Over time, is it likely to return to normal, or will it remain the same shape and therefore require sanding level?

I'm happy to sand the area again, but I want to leave the correct amount of drying time before I do so. Would this be a matter of weeks or months?

The wood doesn't appear discoloured in any way.

I appreciate all tips anyone can offer in this matter.

 

[RigidRaider]

From what I know about wood (mostly burning it in my stove!) all wood has a level of humidity, which is in equilibrium with its environment. As it dries it shrinks, so if you allow it to dry out thoroughly, with luck it will shrink back to size. With luck.

 

[WoodYouLike]

Give it a week or two (continue with the heating and ventilate sufficiently). If warping doesn't increase most water has gone and the blocks might (as said above by RigidRaider) return to its normal or almost normal size and form. Light warping can be sanded smooth again without too much trouble, excessive warping and sanding will render the blocks 'unstable' i.e. thinner sides - thicker middle.

Good luck and keep us posted

 

[Great-Uncle-Bulgaria]

Thanks RigidRaider & WoodYouLike!

I'll carry on with what I'm doing and leave it a few weeks as suggested.

I'll keep my fingers crossed too!