Q: Our basement flooded in Sept. It was right under our kitchen floor. We have noticed the kitchen floor now has a big hump in it. Could it be related to the basement flooding? The adjuster does not seem to feel it was related to the flood. What do you think?
A: I think it is certainly possible, if you had a significant amount of water in the basement, below the hardwood in the kitchen that it could impact the wood floor. Did anyone take moisture readings of the kitchen sub floor from the basement? What was the cause of the flood? Your floor has a hump because it has expanded and is under pressure. This is only caused by moisture imbalance. What is the source of the moisture? Unless you have a leak from your refrigerator or dish washer, the other likely source would be the water in the basement.
Follow-up Q: They did take moisture readings in the kitchen and it read normal levels. The flood was caused by a sump pump malfunction caused by a power failure. It was a whole week before servpro set up dehumidifiers, which ran for 3 days. So the basement was flooded for several days. They said there was no leak in the fridge or the dishwasher. Our floors are a vinyl tile which are now starting to pop apart because of the hump. I appreciate your info. Please let me know what else you think.
A: Having a large volume of water sit in your house will impact other parts of the structure. As it evaporates it has to go somewhere. If the sub floor is plywood, it is likely it has swelled. This is why even plywood is suppose to have a small expansion space between sheets. How do they explain the hump? I think you are going to have to remove your tile and fix the floor underneath first.
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