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Our refrigerator leaked water onto our 2 year old hardwood floor, in the kitchen, and pooled in an area all day until we came home from work. Now about a week later, in that area, the boards are bowing. Is there any way to fix this without ripping up that part of the floor and replacing it?

We have a prefinished wood floor in our laundry, hall and kitchen. It all flows together. Recently our washing machine leaked all over the floor, out to the kitchen. I called the insurance company and they recommended we go with one of their Premier Service companies. A man was sent out from a Premier Service co. and said the floor needed to be replaced. He measured, took photos and a board to be sent to a lab. The claim representative, without ever having seen the floor, has decided to just pay for repairs to the floor. The flooring company stands firm the floor will not be returned to its original condition. Fillers will need to be used, the boards will not fully match, and the floor will not look like it did prior to the incident.

I recently had a plumbing problem under the kitchen sink. Now there is some water underneath the wood laminate flooring (about a 3′x3′ area). I’ve noticed slight swelling in between the planks. What’s the best way to dry that out?

I just sanded an old oak floor. There was old carpet over it. It was very filthy. I sanded with 20 and 36 grit, but there are stains in wood that won’t come out. How can I get rid of them?

I had a faucet washer go bad in my kitchen and there was a moderate drip (close to 2 gallons a day) dripping behind my cabinet, which eventually worked its way under my hardwood floor. This must have been going on for 3 days as I did not notice the swelling until the edges of my hardwood started lifting. We have solid Red oak floors applied directly to the subflooring. Am I going to have to replace the damaged area, or can I let it dry and hope to sand down or refinish it?

My hardwood floors were refinished 4 years ago. In the past year the floor is darkening, and there is separating of boards. There are smaller, darker circular areas. Mostly in the living room, which was carpeted for many years, but also in bedroom which was refinished many years ago. Some of boards are separating in the living room, and I can feel a slight bowing. My basement is dirt - house built in late forties. Few of boards appear to be eaten. Termite inspection last year revealed no termites, but moisture.

We are purchasing a house. There are two areas in the kitchen that look like the the finish has come off the hardwood floors. It appears to be a little water damage / high traffic areas. Someone suggested maybe spot sanding and putting a water base over it, that there might be slight discoloration for a while, but it should work just fine. Is this the best solution or is it better to replace the floor boards and restain, or replace all the hardwood in the main room? The spots are about 2 x 2 feet.

I am refinishing my 45 year old oak floors. When I removed the carpet there were 3 dark stains. I figure it is pet urine. Sanding is finished, but the stains are still visible. If I apply a darker (perhaps cherry oak) stain, will it hide the urine stains or will they just get darker? Could I apply less stain to the spots to try to even it all out?

Some water leaked from our dishwasher onto the hardwood floor of the kitchen. The water was wiped up almost immediately but now, a few hours later, the hardwood floor feels uneven. The sides of the boards feel as if they are slightly raised. What can be done to restore the smooth floor?

I just bought an old house. I ripped up the worn-out carpet in the hall to find hardwood flooring underneath. It extends into the bedrooms. However, the hallway has an area of what appears to be water damage. It is stained, and the boards even seem to have changed in texture and seem to have shrunk some. Can that be sanded down, or will I need to replace those boards?

My dog peed on our floor and we did not notice this until the next day. After cleaning up the mess, I noticed that the finish had lifted and peeled on one side of the wood slat. The wood in not discoloured but you can see where the finished has peeled. Can I try and apply polyurethane to that one spot or is it better to sand the whole slat and then apply polyurethane to the whole slat of wood?

I am looking at a gymnasium floor which is less than one year old. This is a very nice floor, but it has been flooded from below because someone failed to install a pressure cap on a drain pipe underneath the new hardwood floor. This happened three months ago, and all I see is the large area (50’ x 55’) which has obvious cupping.

My hickory 4-inch-board floors were installed in December 2005 in a brand new home. The boards are not laying completely flat. They have like a wavy appearance and you can feel the waves with your hands. I noticed this probably a month or so after installation. I have been waiting, thinking they might flatten out in time. Also, I hear loud “cracking sounds” coming from the flooring from time to time. Could you tell me what caused this and if there is anything that can be done about it?

We have a new wood floor installed in a new addition, over a newly built crawl space. The floor was installed during a very wet period of the summer (historic floods took place near that time). The floor was flat after finishing. We covered it with drop cloths for a few weeks while trim work was done. When we removed the drop cloths, the floors had cupped. There had also been a problem with drainage that the builder had fixed, but not before it flooded the new crawl space. Now we are stumped – the job is done, we are about to have it inspected, and the builder is saying to wait until winter for the floor to flatten out with the heat. What if it doesn’t? What if it still needs to be resanded and refinished? Whose responsibility is this? We are reluctant to move into the space before this issue is resolved, but how long can/should we wait?

What can cause hardwood floors to buckle in some areas? No water or liquids have been left standing anywhere. The owner of the home is blaming my family and I, since they have occurred after we moved in.

When I bounce up and down on the flooring by the threshold that was removed, you can see the sub-flooring move up and down about an 1/8″. Could improper nail down of the sub-flooring be a problem?

We took carpeting up from our bedroom which has hardwood floors underneath. When cleaning the carpet from pet urine there are severe dark watermarks. Is there a way to lighten the marks before sanding and refinishing?

I have wood flooring in a bedroom closet that backs on to the bathroom. There’s also a window a couple of feet away from the closet. Dark spots have appeared on the closet floor and some planks are buckling/warping. I got an estimate for repairs from a wood floor company (>$1000!) and they want to replace the boards, then sand and refinish the entire room (the rest of the floor is fine). Is that normal?

… Twice now we had to have the floor that runs from the rear door to the bathroom (10 x 6 ft.) resanded and restained because it started to cup. It is now doing it again, the guy says maybe my contractor didn’t install the new rear door correct and either water or cold is getting in under the floor.

My home is about 50 years old. Our hardwood floors were covered with water for about 3 weeks thanks to hurricane Katrina. The floors are attached to a wooden sub flooring with tongue and groove and a nail every 10 inches. There is some very minor buckling but a black spot appears at all the nails. Can this be removed by sanding?