We had a toilet overflow on the second floor that went through the ceiling and rained down on the hardwood floors on the first floor. One room is oak that due to age and old house settling already had some uneveness and staining. The rest of the flooring is old heart pine. We're going to have the floors refinished, but I have had different advice on how and when to go about determining when the moisture level is appropriate for sanding and refinishing.
- One flooring contractor said to wait at least 60 days. A second flooring contractor said to wait 6-12 months. A third said that the amount of time didn't matter and that he couldn't gaurantee the job unless he either ripped out a section to check the boards and the subfloor or we had a professional determine that the moisture levels were appropriate.

Is there a standard procedure for determining the moisture levels that is noninvasive? My brief online research shows a number of moisture meters that look as if they could noinvasively determine the moisture levels of the hardwood floors (tramex and wagner).

Obviously we don't want to have the floors done until they're ready. The heart pine, which received less water, look pretty good, but the oak, which were already stained, etc., are more iffy.

THANKS for any advice!

Check the wood floors in various places with a moisture meter.Then go under the house,assuming you have accessible crawl space,and check the moisture content in the sub-floor,and floor joists.I use a Delmhorst moisture meter,which has two sharp prongs,smaller than a pin head.You simply push the prongs into the wood approx. 3/8" and push the button.This will tell you what percentage of moisture is present.
Ideal conditions are 6 - 10% moisture,in your hardwood,and the sub-floor.
You may need dehumidifiers,fans,etc. to reach the desired conditions.I'd also check the crawl space for standing water.It should be dry,with 3 mil. plastic covering the ground.
Follow these steps,and don't do any repair work until you've reached 10% moisture content or less.
Even then,the wood could still move a little more.If you can wait at least a week after you've reached 10% moisture content,it should then be safe to proceed with repairs/refinishing.