Hello,

A few weeks ago my dishwasher had a leak but I quickly cleaned up all the water with paper towel, however after a few days some boards started to expand a bit and staying that way since them.

My hardwood flooring has a strong coat to protect from liquids and till today I never had problems with it as long as I clean up the liquids quickly.

Also, I had the heat ON more than normal to make sure that any possible humidity goes away, but the boards never went back to normal.

Is this permanent damage? (pic attached)

Thank you very much.


H.

 

Turning on the heat wasn't a good idea. I used to see that when I worked for a flood damage company. It would have been better if you had used floor fans or any fan for that matter. Water still maybe trapped under the wood. Is there a cellar? If so, can you see anything?

 

Pulpo,

Maybe I'm exaggerating, I mean, the heat is been ON most of the time mainly because it's very cold here in chicago right now and not because of this particular problem. Which I did
indeed was shutdown the dehumidifier.

There is no cellar so I can't check this however the floor underneath the kitchen is the foyer which I don't see any water damage in the celling.


Thanks!

 

Often the hardwood isn't laid as tight or sealed as good under the cabinets so the dishwasher leak probably allowed more water to get under the hardwood. The most important thing is to get it all dried out! Time will tell whether or not the hardwood will lay down like it once was.

 

Chances are that's permanent damage. Water probably found it's way under the floor and there's no going back. I would call the insurance company. The insurance is a gamble when it comes to water damage. You have a good case because the water damage was sudden and a one time event versus years of slow leakage. From my experience, the insurance deals with sudden flooding damage but will not entertain damage that has progressed over months or years.
There could be more water than you think under floor, depending on where dishwasher was leaking from.
Trapped water is not good and can lead to major damage.

If the dishwasher is fairly new, and this leak was due to installation, the installer is fully responsible if you paid for the service. In California, I can be liable for leaks for years.

 

Also just a bad idea to even use hardwood in a kitchen, your seeing why.
A simple cheap preventive fix would be to install a piece glued of down linoleum under the washer and under the sink.