Water-Damaged Hardwood Floor Repair in Murfreesboro, TN
When a pipe, a dishwasher or a storm soaks your wood floor, we dry it, sort the good boards from the lost ones and put the room back together.
- Quotes in writing
- 18 areas covered
A soaked wood floor is not always a lost floor. At Murfreesboro Hardwood Flooring we start by drying the boards and the wood under them, then we decide board by board what we can keep, cut out what we can't, and blend the new wood in so the patch is hard to spot.
The first two days matter most
Mold can start quickly on wet wood. The EPA's home mold guide puts the time to get wet areas and items dry at 24 to 48 hours, so call us the day it happens. Don't wait for the boards to curl.
Shut the water off first if you can. The EPA tells building owners to fix leaky plumbing and other leaks as soon as possible, and we would rather find the source with you before we pull a single board.
While you wait, mop up any water sitting on top. For finished wood, the EPA's cleanup table says a mild soap and clean water is fine, and then the surface should be left to dry.
Drying the boards and the wood beneath them
We bring in dehumidifiers, machines that pull water out of the air, along with fans, and we add only gentle heat. The EPA lists all three for wet wood, and it warns people to be careful when they put heat on hardwood floors.
We call the layer of plywood or planks under your boards the subfloor. The EPA says that layer has to be cleaned and dried as well, so we lift a board or two to reach it.
Wood soaks up moisture from the air around it, the Forest Products Laboratory says, and it keeps trading moisture with that air until the two even out. So we never judge a floor while the room is still damp.
Crawlspace homes and humid summers
If your house sits on a crawlspace, the short open space between the ground and the floor, we treat that space as part of the job.
In a Forest Service study of 12 raised-floor houses in southern Louisiana, the subfloor was wetter in summer than in winter in most homes. In every house, the air in the crawlspace held about as much moisture as the air outside. We take a look under the house too, so a dry-looking floor doesn't get closed up over a damp crawlspace.
How we sort the boards we keep from the ones we replace
We test each wet patch with a moisture meter, a handheld tool that reads how much water is in the wood, and we compare it with a part of your floor that stayed dry. The Wood Handbook tells installers to check new flooring with a meter that doesn't pierce the wood, and we use the same tool on your old boards.
If a board dries flat and feels solid, it stays. Boards that stay curled at the edges, go black, or feel soft come out, and we cut in new boards that match. Our hardwood floor repair page shows how we weave them in, and subfloor repair covers the layer underneath if it has gone soft.
Once the readings hold steady, we sand and finish the patch or the whole room so it blends. We cover that step on our hardwood floor refinishing page.
What sets the price, and what to get on paper
We quote once we have seen the floor, and the quote comes to you in writing. We set the price by how many boards come out, how much of the subfloor needs drying or new wood, how easy your boards are to match, and how much of the floor we sand.
Whoever you hire, ask them to put these in writing:
- The moisture readings they took, and where in the room.
- A count of boards to keep and boards to replace.
- Whether any subfloor work is in the price.
- Whether they will finish just the patch or the full room.
- The stain and finish names, so a later touch-up matches.
- Who hauls the old boards away.
Questions about water-damaged hardwood floor repair in Murfreesboro
Does my homeowner's insurance pay for a flooded floor?
The City of Murfreesboro's flood insurance page says homeowner's policies do not cover flooding. Talk to your insurer about what your own policy says before we start, and we can give you our written quote to share with them.
My house isn't in a flood zone. Can it still flood?
It can. The city says FEMA only maps the flood risk that comes from rivers, and lists other risks such as sinkholes, poor local drainage, storm pipes that are too small, and clogged pipes, inlets and ditches in heavy rain. The same page says that on average 40% of flood insurance claims come from outside the high-risk zones.
Is it safe to run fans if the water came from a drain backup?
Not until you know the water was clean. The EPA says not to use fans before that is settled, since dirty water from sewage or chemicals needs protective gear and needs to be closed off from the rest of the house. We stop and tell you if we think the water was not clean.
Do I need a city permit for this repair?
The City of Murfreesboro says a permit is required to repair a building or part of one, but it lists floor finishing among the normal maintenance repairs that can be done without one, as long as they meet the code. If the job grows into replacing subfloor, we check with the city before we start.
Can mold be there even if the floor dried fast?
Mold can be there already. The EPA says it may have started even when things were dried within 48 hours. If you clean up mold and leave the water problem in place, the EPA says the mold will most likely come back. So we look under any board we lift, and we won't close the floor until the leak is fixed.
Why not sand the floor as soon as the top feels dry?
The Wood Handbook says cracks can open up in a wood floor when the boards take on moisture and then shrink once the house is heated. Sanding and sealing too soon locks that problem in, so we wait for steady readings.
Will the city take the ruined boards from the curb?
No. The city's trash FAQ says it won't pick up anything set out by the curb and only empties what is inside your cart. Rutherford County says building and tear-out debris is not taken at its Convenience Centers and has to go to the county Transfer Station.
What humidity helps the floor stay flat afterward?
The EPA suggests holding indoor humidity under 60 percent where you can, and ideally between 30 and 50 percent. We're happy to talk through how your house feels in a damp summer and a dry winter.
Get a quote for water-damaged hardwood floor repair
Send the quote form with your ZIP code and a line about what leaked and when, or give us a call. We'll come out, take readings, tell you which boards we'd save, and put the price in writing. You can see the rest of our work on the Murfreesboro Hardwood Flooring home page.
Ready to talk about your hardwood flooring job?
Call us or send the quote form with your ZIP code and what you need. We will get back to you with a written quote.