Hello. A recent ceiling water leak caused some slight cupping to about 2 square feet of 7 year old hardwood oak floor. The leak has been fixed, but I am hoping the floor, which is covered by an area rug, will flatten out at least a bit more. I'm hoping the rug does not prevent the floor from drying and flattening out. There is a heating vent about 4 feet away from the spot. What are your thoughts? I'd rather keep the rug where it is, but want the problem to improve. Thanks!

Erik

The rug could delay the moisture evaporating out of the wood. Best to remove it for a week or two. The flooring may go back down somewhat. In my experience, it usually never goes back down 100%. But it can get better sometimes.

Thanks Gary for your advice. I will remove the rug for a while. So it sounds like I should expect the slight cupping to improve, but not completely go away?

If you have a contractor with an Injecta-Dry system in your area. This is who you need to contact. I would check with insurance adjusters as well as the yellow pages. This is the ultimate in drying hard wood floors when wet.

I will look into the injectadry. In addition, I guess what I'm trying to ascertain is if when totally dry I should expect the cupping to significantly minimize? Or, does it sometimes just stay as is even when dry? The cupping would probably be described as minimal, but noticeable nonetheless.

I have seen floors that when the injecta-dri system is used that the floor can return to near flat and little gaping.

On the injectaDry, I will be out of town for about 10 days starting right away. I won't be able to use it, assuming I can get it, until I get back. Is there harm in waiting, or will it be just as good to get it going when I return. Much thanks!

The longer you delay the drying the less likely your efforts will yeild a positive result.

I would be surprised if you would find a place to rent such a system. We are a smaller market but there is only one system here in town. The contractor would definitely not rent the system but his techs will remedy the problem. You could expect to pay around $1300 for the process that will take approximately 5 days of equipment running.

Thanks again for all the info. As I look at the 2 sq. feet problem, it really is pretty minor cupping, and it seems as dry as the rest of the floor. Of course, I know moisture is insidious, and inside the wood, I can't tell just how dry it is. I really think it may not be worth going for the InjectaDry equipment if the problem looks minor.
Here's another thought: This makes me think, it's coming up on nine years (I've had the house for 3) yrs., and the floor has never been recoated. Though the floor looks ok perhaps once things are totally dry I should just do a complete refinish? While much of the floor looks very nice, and shows a good finish, there are dings, animal scratches, minor staining, some duller areas, in the floor, anyway. And I don't know how the floor was cleaned in the past, so maybe a recoat would't be sufficient. Also, I believe the sanding would fix the cupping, (provided things are totally dry to prevent crowning) in a year or so? At the risk of posting a question in the wrong category, for a floor that's pushing ten years should maybe be a refinish candidate anyway? Sorry for the long post...