My wood floors have water damage but there was no leak. how did this happen?

Got new wood floors about a year ago but now they have ridges popping up and are getting darker. this only happened in the kitchen, but there were no leaks or anything. what could it be? and how do i prevent it in the future? they used sealer on the concrete before installation so i dont think its moisture coming through the slab.
no, i dont think mold causes water damage. mold is a result of moisture, but there is no mold on my floors

Well there are a few things that it could be.
just cuz they used a sealer does not mean anything.
if the floor was put in correct and lets say it was.
there could be a water leak in the pips in the floor.
now there are 2 ways to find out if its leaking.
first find you water meter outside.
AT NIGHT before you go to bed take the reading off it.
lets say it says 75683.2 if the leak is small and im sure it would be the 2 is the number you need to watch very closely.
go to bed do not use any water what so ever.
in the morn check it if it moved to 3 or 4 then that means you have a leak somewhere.
the problem is with this if you WC (toilet) has a small leak or a faucet is drippin then it will cause it to move also.
to fix this problem if you know 1 is leaking lets say the WC shut the valve off under the WC same with the sink and so on.
2nd way is to call someone out that checks for leaks.
I have and use several different ways to find out thses problems. some will listen for a leak some will use other ways.
Now it could be the drain line if the pipe is broke or leaking underground it can cause this.
((you could use dye but this takes a long time to soak into the wood to show up. and if its taken a long time for the water to come up this would not help. But if you call someone they could find this out also.
Now for the BAD NEWS>
you cant let this go on it will ruin the rest of the floor in time. You might have to call a floor guy out to remove only that section of floor to find out the problem and go from there.
If you have any other info you think of that you didnt list here e-mail me and I will help you out.
I have been in the field 20yrs and have done several of these they all have there own little twist so if you need help drop me a line
kos101@yahoo.com

What oil would be best to treat a wood floor with water damage?

I'm going to sand the entire floor but where there are spots of water damage (removed a very old pad/carpet), the boards shrunk and left gaps between each other. Where there is no spots, the floor looks great. Would repeatedly soaking the boards with lemon oil make them 'puff' back up? Or what oil would work and still allow for sanding/refinishing?
c'mon Chris.so make the entire floor look like crap to match it? lol some oils soak in better than others.thinned down BLO would probably expand the wood but might create a problem sanding, like you say. But i've got a buttload of BLO.
yea kitty, the boards have actually shrunk only where the stains are.i did an adjoining floor and used a ton of wood filler but it was pine, not oak and the boards were opened up all over. This oak is pretty tight otherwise. The oil making it dark isn't much of a problem since the water already turned the wood blackish.
someone that really knows what they're talking about out there?

I've refinished a couple of wood floors with a similar problem as well as spots and stains.

Frankly, I doubt if the wood actually shrank a whole lot. It has usually been seasoned (dried) before it is laid, and it is not going to shrink much more. There will always be some expansion and contraction going on in a house due to variances in temperatures and humidity. Sometimes the flooring installer will mistakenly or carelessly leave a small gap between the boards. Or maybe some of the boards didn't come squarely cut from the mill.

I think soaking the floor boards with any oil will make that area darker, and you won't be able to get it out because the oil soaks into the grain. Then even after sanding you will have an uneven darker spot. Oil will definitely not puff them back up.

A lot of people will leave these flaws as is. They say it adds character. I believe so too. I have seen where some have filled with wood putty the space between the boards. I looks pretty trashy as the putty shrinks and cracks, and doesn't take stain the same as the wood

Does anyone know how to fix a warped wood floor from some water damage?

I encountered some water damage in my apartment and now one section of my flooring is warped and raised does anyone know how to reverse the damage literally speaking without having to do the whole section over, by the way my apartment is ground level if that helps,thanks 10 points to best answer!

The floor boards need to be dried out. Run a fan on it 24/7 until it is thoroughly dry. If you have a dehumidifier, running that in the room will remove moisture from the air, which in turn will evaporate from the wood. This may take care of the problem. Once the wood is stable, you may have to sand and refinish it. If the boards remain very warped, you may have no choice but to remove and replace that section. Good luck

I have minor water damage to my pergo wood flooring. Is it ok to sand & refinish or wil i have to replace all?

The damaged area is pretty small. but my entire kitchen is the same flooring. There is cupping in the damaged areas and a water trail is present where the water ran.

You cannot sand and refinish Pergo because it is not real wood. The surface is a picture of real wood that is laminated onto a synthetic base. If you try to sand it you will wear off the picture. No good. The only option is to replace it, and this has to be done by tearing up the floor in the reverse order it was installed. The danger in leaving it this way is mold could develop underneath. Pergo is high risk to use whenever there is any possiblity of water getting on it. Personally, I would NOT use Pergo or any other laminate flooring for this very reason, and certainly NEVER in a bathroom or kitchen. To use it in these areas is an invitation for disaster, because if you ever spill water then it's all over.

We have an artificial wood flooring in our kitchen. Over the last year, esp. below the refrigerator water dispenser we've greatly damaged our floor from all the drips of water from doing the dishes, cooking, etc.

We were amazed when we lifted some carpeting under our piano how beautiful and shiny it originally was. Now we're sad because we obviously don't know how to take care of this flooring.

I'm not sure what type of floor it is. We dropped a hammer on it and gouged it and it appears that it has a thin top surface and the main body of the floor is some type of cheaper wood or other wood-like material; it's a cheap house.

What is the best way to:
1) Repair the water damage. Can a laminate floor (or whatever) it is be stripped? I believe we CAN NOT sand it because the top layer is so thin. Would I just go to Home Depot or Lowe's and ask for stripping products?

2) How can I protect our floor going forward? Consumer wax products seem to last a couple of weeks then go dull. not a permanent solution. Can I go to a hardware store and buy a polyurethane-type varnish and paint it on as a longer-term solution?

Un fortunately no theres nothing to do but replace the effected area.. You can t put any top coat on it of any kind. This may be partly why it look s bad other than the piano area. Your not to put any kind of polyurethane on it either, it won t stick.
Yes there only is a thin layer on the lamiate, this is the "picture" of the product and no you can t sand and re do it at all..There are some very good laminates out there that will take decent useages , but there are others that are cheap. The core of the laminate is a key to the board, it s a MDF or HDF , medium and High density fiber board, not partical board. This whats makes it a good or better laminate.
I d clean any "waxes" or coating you have on there now and use recommended cleaners on it from now on. No mopping ( you know what water can do to it) .. All that is recommended for your floor is a mist or spray on cleaner and a dust mop.. Any flooring questions you can e mail me through my avatar.. GL

Water damage under our laminate wood flooring. Any ideas for repair other than removing?

Nope you need to remove it so that area can be dried out...

My basement flooded and the laminate wood flooring in the room has swolen at all the seams. Is there any way to repair this?

Unlike wood, laminate floors can't be refinished if you have severe water damage like you describe. Unfortunately, the particles in your flooring have been damaged and you will have to replace your laminate wood flooring.

I am going back to the original wood floor. There is a spot near a window with water damage.?

Where some of the wood seems to be warped, will sanding and refinishing help in making the spot look better?

Presuming the damage is old and the source of water infiltration repaired... Sanding & refinishing will make the spot look better, but not necessarily perfect. Depending on the severity of the warping you mentioned, and how deep any stains go, the improvement should be 50% to 95%. WIthout actually seeing the situation, no one can accurately guess how visible the damage will still be. If the damage is really bad and the affected area is relatively small, you can carefully remove some hardwood from inside a closet and use it to replace the damaged area. (Gratefully no one cares if a closet has a peel-and-stick floor.) Good luck.