If you love hardwood floors and have had water damage problems, you probably would want to know how to fix water damage on hardwood floors? I’m sure you will be delighted to. Knowing that you can still save your beautiful hardwood floor is such a relief.

Hardwood floors are undeniably beautiful investment you decided for your home. Hardwood floors are not only beautiful to look at but they are durable and very sturdy compared to other flooring options. It’s easy to clean and the natural gleam of the wood gives a sense of outmost sophistication and quality. And it really is.

Investing your money on these expensive hardwoods flooring usually means you want it around for a long time. Since wood is very durable, you wouldn’t want to be changing your flooring to carpet anytime soon. That’s the whole plan. However, sometimes things do not go as planned and unfortunate things might happen; like a bad water problem.

Water and wood do not go well together. If in any event you have water problems and somehow it got into your flooring for period of time, you probably want to master the following tips on fixing damaged hardwood flooring.

1. The first thing to do is to dry your floor. Quickly get that moisture out of your wood to prevent excessive damage. You can use dehumidifiers or fans to quicken the drying process. Wipe your floor in addition to the tools that you are using. Use whatever drying tools you have just to remove the water and moisture. Doing this will bring back the usual form of the wood.

2. Check your flooring for any damages. See if there are warped floors or stains. Check for anything other than the usual flat and woody color of the flooring. Different damages will require different ways also of restoring and saving the wood flooring.

3. For possible warped floors, if after drying and the condition is still the same, you may need to do serious repairs. Remove the damaged wood from the flooring. You can pull it out if it is protruding upwards. If not, you will cut the portion of the warped or cupped wood using a saw. Once it is removed install new one using the very same kind.

4. For stains on the floor, you will need some oxalic acid crystals. First, sand the stained area. Clean any residue or dust. Add some hot water in the solution and brush the area. Wait for it to dry for a few minutes. Once it’s dried, you can reapply if there are still stains.

5. Once you have replaced damaged woods and removed stains. You have to sand the entire flooring back to its original unpolished state. Doing this will give you the even tone later on. If not, you will see the difference in the minor repairs that was done.

6. Clean the floor from any dusts and residues. Use a clean cloth or a tack cloth to ensure that every nook is clean. You can also opt to vacuum the floor to make sure that there are no dusts in sight.

7. Stain the floor using a paint roller or a clean cloth. Follow the natural grains and lines of the floor and do it evenly in one direction for the entire flooring. After staining, dry it off for about an hour.

8. Once you have stained the floor, apply a first coating of polyurethane.  Let it dry for about six hours or more. Apply a second coating and let it dry again. Make sure that the room is well ventilated to avoid harmful inhalation of some ingredients in the finishing solution.

Depending on the extent of damage, the steps on how to fix water damage on hardwood floors is moderately easy to do but will require a lot of your time and patience. However, your reward is that if it is done right, you are going to enjoy your beautiful wood floors for years to come.