Water Damage Q&A: Do You Have to Remove My Flooring?

6/18/2019 (Permalink)

Carpet doesn't fare well against a ton of moisture, and it will likely need to be removed.

Last weekend, Caldwell County declared a state of emergency after heavy rains flooded the community. On our end, we received over 300 calls from affected home and business owners in the Unifour area. Our team responded to each call and answered lots of questions, as many of our callers had never experienced water damage before. Today, we’re answering one of the most common questions we were asked!

Do You Need To Remove My Flooring (Carpet, Hardwoods, etc.)?

Water doesn’t do very well with most types of flooring. In cases where it doesn’t actually ruin the material, it still poses a threat to your subfloor. Whether or not your flooring needs to be removed ultimately comes down to two things: the flooring material and the extent of the water damage.

Some materials hold up against water better than others. Generally, the more porous a material is, the more likely it will need to be removed when exposed to enough moisture.

Carpet, for example, will most likely need to be pulled up because water will seep through to the subfloor, which will, in turn, become a breeding ground for mold. A similar result would occur with hardwoods, but the planks themselves would also be ruined because of the excess moisture it would absorb. Concrete, on the other hand, would be essentially unaffected because water would not be able to permeate the material.

Water Damages & Your Floors

If your floor endures a lot of water damage, you can generally expect it to be stripped to the subfloor (barring certain flooring materials). Still, it’s a necessary step to prevent mold or structural damage in the future. Should water damage become an issue at your property, contact our team at SERVPRO of Alexander & Caldwell Counties for help!