My contractor's employees broke a water pipe under my sink and my brand new hardwood floors were wet. At the seams of the flooring, there was delamination of the veneer, not quite blistering. I have engineered hardwood floors.

I contacted the contractor whom had a associate of his, a wood installer with a decently known flooring company come by and look at the floor. This person stated that he would wait a week to see how much of the moisture goes away and felt that some of the floor would improve. I also had my wood installer look at the floor and he stated that the floor would not improve and needed to be replaced.

I spoke with the contractor and he informed me that we wait a week if possible, then he'll have the wood Floorer come by and take a look at the floor, and that he and I will decide on how much flooring to replace. The wood Floorer doesn't feel strongly about replacing the wood that was affected beneath the cabinets because it won't be seen, and that possible mildew is a low risk as all 'wood will dry'.

I have a couple of questions...

1). Should we replace the flooring under the cabinets?

2). I don't understand why the contractor would want to have his Floorer fix the flooring vs going thru the insurance company?

3). Does wood flooring affected by water 'get better over time'?

Thanks!

The longer it's allowed to dry out (ordinarily improves) but that's never a guarantee.

Delamination already? Sounds as if it will only get worse and not better.

1- Your choice. Unchecked mold is the 21st century version of asbestos...or can be a health issue over time.

2- Everyone is different. Unfortunately many times it's only about the easiest way out with the least amount of cost.