Drying wet carpet, pad and hardwood floors in place where possible, and removing what cannot be saved, across Erie County.
Fastest: call (833) 490-5225. Or send this and we call you back.
Carpet and hardwood floor drying is the work of removing water from floor coverings and the subfloor beneath them, then deciding which materials can dry in place and which must come out. Buffalo Water Damage Restoration serves Buffalo and Erie County around the clock and explains each decision on site.
Floors take water in layers. Carpet holds the water on its surface, the pad beneath it soaks it up, and the subfloor takes the rest. Hardwood absorbs water through its edges and its finish and swells, cups or crowns when it does. A floor that looks mostly dry can still hold a great deal of water under the surface, which is why a drying plan starts with the readings and not with the surface.
Deciding what can be saved is the most important part of the job. Some carpet can be lifted, cleaned and dried in place, and some hardwood can be dried and kept. Other materials, such as soaked pad, sealed or glued floors that have lifted, and floors that were wet with sewage, must come out. The decision is made item by item, and the technician explains each one before it is carried out.
A wet floor is worth a call at once. Dial (833) 490-5225, describe the room and the source of the water, and say whether the floor is carpet, tile, vinyl or hardwood. A crew is sent as soon as one is free. The first visit extracts the water and measures the floor, so the drying plan is based on readings rather than appearance.
Do not walk on wet carpet with heavy shoes or on a wet hardwood floor, because it is slippery and can hide a soft or lifted board. Keep electrical cords and outlets out of the water. Do not use a steam cleaner or a machine that heats water on a wet floor. Keep children and pets off the floor until the crew has said it is safe.
Standing water is pumped or vacuumed off the floor, and carpet is extracted with a machine that pulls water up from the fibers and the pad. Removing the surface water first lets the drying work reach the material below.
Moisture readings are taken across the floor, at the edges and under the carpet, to show how far the water has traveled. The readings decide which materials can be dried in place and which need to be lifted.
Carpet and pad that are soaked through are lifted in sections, and the pad is removed where it cannot dry. Hardwood that has lifted or cupped and glued floors that have been soaked are assessed and taken up where needed.
Air movers are set across the floor, and dehumidifiers pull moisture from the room air. Drying runs until the readings show the subfloor and the floor covering have reached a dry level, and the logs are left with the owner.
Where carpet or wood has dried and can be kept, it is returned to the floor and stretched or sanded by a flooring person. Where it has been removed, the note records what was taken up, so the replacement can be matched.
Carpet can often be extracted and dried in place when the water was clean and the pad is not soaked through. The crew lifts the carpet where the readings show the pad is wet, and removes the pad where it cannot dry.
Carpet dries from the top down, but the pad below it holds most of the water. A carpet that has been extracted can still be wet under the surface, so the crew takes readings through the carpet to the pad and the subfloor. Where the pad is dry, the carpet can often be kept, and where the pad is soaked it has to come out.
Carpet that was in sewage or in creek water is handled differently. The water is contaminated, and the porous material it reached is assessed for removal. The crew explains the difference on site, so the owner knows which carpet can be kept and which cannot.
Hardwood that has cupped or swelled can sometimes be dried and recover, but boards that are glued down, badly swollen or stained by contaminated water may need replacing. The crew checks the moisture and the boards before deciding.
Hardwood responds slowly to drying. The boards may flatten after the moisture has left the wood, and the crew watches them for several visits to see whether they return toward their normal shape. A floor that has been wet from below, through the subfloor, may take longer to recover than one wet only on the surface.
Some boards do not recover. A board that has split, that has lost its finish to the water or that has been soaked for a long time may need to be replaced by a flooring person. The crew's note records the boards it expects to be affected, so the repair can be planned.
The subfloor holds moisture under the finish and supports the framing, and it can stay wet long after the floor surface looks dry. Readings on the subfloor show when the floor is truly dry.
A subfloor of plywood or boards takes water through the seams and under the finish. Once it is wet, it can swell, weaken and promote growth beneath the floor covering. A floor laid back over a wet subfloor will trap the moisture underneath, so the readings on the subfloor are the test that matters.
The crew checks the subfloor from above where it can be reached, and from below in a cellar or crawl space where the access allows. The results go into the note with the readings for the floor covering, so the owner can see both.
Move rugs and furniture off the wet area onto a dry surface, and lift the legs of heavy pieces on blocks if you can. Do not walk on wet carpet with heavy shoes, and do not use a household fan that blows across a wet floor without a plan.
Rugs and furniture that stay on a wet floor leave marks and hold water against the surface. Move them as soon as it is safe to do so, and place them on a dry surface, such as a hard floor or a rack. Remove the cushions and the loose fabric, because they hold water and can stain the floor.
A small fan can help, but it can spread dust and moisture into other rooms if it is not placed with care. The crew sets the equipment for the room and the readings, and it can advise on what the homeowner should leave in place.
The type of floor covering, the number of rooms reached, how much pad or subfloor is wet and how many boards must be taken up all change the scope. The price is explained and approved on site before any work starts, and no figure is given here.
A single room of carpet with a dry pad is a smaller job than a whole floor of hardwood that has cupped and must be dried from below. Lifting, drying and reinstalling carpet takes more time than drying it in place, and the number of trims and transitions to remove adds to the work.
Floor restoration and replacement are carried out by a flooring person and are priced separately. The crew explains what it has dried and what remains, and it confirms the price for its own work on site before any equipment is set up.
Carpet that was wet from a clean supply source can often be extracted and dried in place. The pad is the critical layer, and if it is soaked through the crew removes it. The carpet is dried and returned if it has not been damaged.
Hardwood takes water through its edges and its underside, so the boards swell and cup. The crew removes the trim, dries the subfloor from below where access allows, and watches the boards as they return toward their normal shape.
Hard floors that have lifted or bubbled usually have water under the surface. The crew lifts the flooring where needed and dries the subfloor. Laminate and vinyl that have swelled at the seams are often removed, because they do not recover.
Floors vary a great deal, from carpet on a slab to hardwood on a wood subfloor above a cellar. The crew identifies the floor type and its subfloor on each visit, because the drying plan for a slab is different from the plan for a joisted floor over a cellar.
A flooded cellar is often the first place where a floor shows damage, because moisture rises through the slab or the subfloor into the rooms above. The crew checks the rooms above a wet cellar for the same readings, rather than limiting the work to the cellar.
Winter brings wet boots, snow and salt into rooms across the city, and in a house with a lot of foot traffic the floor near the door can take more water than the rest. The crew checks those entrances as part of the drying, because they are where small amounts of water collect over time.
Tell us what's happening and we'll tell you honestly whether it's a quick fix, and what carpet and hardwood floor drying should cost.
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The crew checks the readings in the carpet and the pad. Carpet with a dry pad and clean water can often be dried and kept. Soaked pad and contaminated carpet usually have to come out, and the technician explains the decision on site.
Sometimes. Hardwood that has cupped can flatten as it dries, but some boards do not recover and need replacing. The crew watches the boards over several visits and notes what is likely to be affected.
A fan can help the air move, but it does not remove water from materials on its own. It can also spread moisture and dust into other rooms. The crew sets equipment to match the room and the readings.
The subfloor and the pad can hold water long after the surface dries. The readings show whether the materials are still wet, and the drying continues until they reach a dry level.
That depends on the policy and the cause of the water, and the insurer decides. Keep photographs and the crew's records, and ask the insurer which of them it needs. The New York State Department of Financial Services regulates insurers for general questions.
The crew dries the floor and removes what cannot be saved. Installation and refinishing are done by a flooring person, and the crew's note records what was taken up so the replacement can be matched.
The crew says when the floor has reached its dry readings and is safe to use. Until then, keep off the wet areas and avoid walking on soft or lifted boards.