Q: 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?
A: You obviously have a moisture problem and you need to find the source before you proceed with any floor repairs. The source could be any number of things. A leak in your roof, a leak in your plumbing, possible water creeping under the wall from getting out of the shower. It has to be a significant amount to have cupped the boards and be turning them black. Perhaps they want to sand the entire room because a line will show under the door of the closet from sanding. You can’t match across the grain. If you don’t care about that, tell them just to do the closet. The cost however might make it worth while to just get the entire room done. but fix the water issue first and make sure the sub floor is dry. They need to check it with a moisture meter.
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