From flooring to ceiling accents and everything in between, wood is beautiful, versatile and functional as a part of any home design. However, wood is often susceptible to water damage and other issues related to high moisture levels. If you have ever experienced water damaged wood furniture or flooring in your home, you know just how devastating water can be to a beautiful piece of wood. If your wooden home materials or furniture do come in contact with water, it doesn’t necessarily mean they have met their end, there are steps you can take to treat and restore these objects to their original state.
Below we will cover 5 the steps needed to treat wood after water damage:
Before you start doing anything to deal with the water damaged wood, you should first identify the source of damage. Without identifying the causes of the water damage, any treatment applied to the wood will be for not as you will likely experience the same issues again. There can be many causes for water damage, from large incidents like burst pipes and flooding to smaller issues like faulty home appliances and dripping faucets. Once you have identified the source, you should take the proper steps to repair the issue to ensure it doesn’t continue to create damage in your home.
Be it furniture, flooring or wooden studs, before you can start working on the water damaged wooden objects you need to be prepared. This includes proper safety equipment such as safety glasses and a respirator mask. It is important that you wear a mask to ensure you do not breathe in airborne contaminants such as mold. Also have the proper woodworking tools close by for easy access.
If water has seeped into your wooden object and has been allowed to sit there for some time, the rotting process will have begun. In most cases, the rot will start from an area that absorbed the most water or that is still exposed to moisture and spread to other parts of the wood.
To stop the rotting process, remove any rotting wood. Depending on the sizer of the rotting piece this can be accomplished with a chisel or a hand saw. These areas can be repaired by replacing the wood with new pieces or by filling small gaps with filler putty.
Another important tip for treating the wood after water damage is removing moisture from it. You can try to just leave the wood out to dry on its own, but this will require a lot of time and can lead to further damage to the wood. You can use dehumidifiers to remove moisture from the air and help dry out your wooden objects, you can also use fans to move air around to help release the moisture from the wood.
As mentioned above, you will need to replace or repair any areas of wood that you discarded due to severe damage. If you are dealing with hardwood flooring or wooden framing, replacing the damaged sections with new pieces is fairly simple. However, if you are dealing with furniture or accent pieces that required notching, they will need to have those areas filled and sanded to match the rest of the wooden piece.
To ensure your wood looks fresh and beautiful after water damage, it is important to refinish the entire piece. This will ensure a uniform look across the entire area. Refinishing can also prevent further damage to the wood.
The above steps are a high-level overview to help you restore any damaged wood you have in your home. Water damage in a home can be devastating, if you have suffered significant water damage from a flood, burst pipe or municipal sewer waters backing up into your home, trust your water damage restoration to the professionals at United Water Restorations. Get help now by calling 1-800-430-5838.
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