Hello everyone -

Yesterday, we noticed a water leak in the dishwasher (dripping from the front/bottom of appliance). We have floor mats in front of the dishwasher so we discovered the water underneath the mats. I would estimate that about one to two cups of water were found there, however, we don't know if the leak was there undetected before yesterday since the mats could have hidden the water. I dried the floors as fast as I could and used a blower for like an hour on the area (I don't have a fan or a dehumidifier unfortunately). I am sure the water penetrated underneath the wood board since where the boards join together, it is darker color (check the pictures). This morning, it is still dark so I guess this will take a while to dry by itself. The affected area is about 4 ft. by 2 ft (indicated by yellow rectangle in one of the pictures).

This is new to me and I need help on how to proceed.

Questions:
1. Do you think in this case I should get professional help? What is the process? Professionally dry the floor or replacement? If replacement, not sure how they are going to match the wood.
2. Is this covered by home owner insurance? Should I report the incident start a claim?
3. What is the order of things? First contact insurance and then the professionals?
4. I don't know about companies that do this kind of work, if you can recommend one that would be great. Also, I wonder if they just come to make an assessment and if they generally charge you for the first assessment visit

Thanks a lot for your help!

Regards

Wetfloor guy

Sorry, trying to figure out how to post pictures in this forum. I will post a link if I cannot upload them here. Thanks.

This type of water damage is covered by your homeowners insurance. You may have a deductible charge per occurrence.
Drying the floor with warm air forced over the surface, for a relatively small area, is the best that can be used for the short term.
The important area is where the flooring ends and the cabinets cover the floor. Water will get under the boards and be carried along by capillary action so the damage can spread along the length of the boards.
Call your insurance agent. They will know who to call to get the problem addressed.
I would use a hair dryer taped to the floor, pointed at the edge of the flooring to blow warm air so it will dry sooner. This will draw moisture from the wood. It can be noisy so turn it off at night.