How to Fix Water Damaged Concrete Floors
Everything needs to be dried correctly: walls, ceilings, furniture, hardwood flooring, but also concrete floors. However, proper concrete flooring water damage repair presents exceptional challenges.
When inexperienced contractors dry the walls and materials, concrete flooring is often assumed to be dried. Folks then proceed to reestablish their room and include new floors. Not too soon after, they start to have problems with the new floors and claim it’s defective. The actual problem is probably that the concrete was not completely dried when they laid the new flooring down.
Many contractors are unaware of this and can cause problems for their clients by failing to remove excess moisture in the concrete.
The Water-based Adhesive Problem
An issue it is possible to run into with concrete floor water damage is that water-based adhesives will not heal properly. As water-based adhesives are becoming popular, this is now a larger problem when dealing with restoration.
Since moisture evaporates from the concrete, then the water-based adhesive absorbs it. If the glue absorbs more moisture, then it cannot stick to the floor properly. Since the adhesive fails to become repaired, it will soften and move. A sign this has happened is blisters or bubbles in certain flooring materials.
After applying tile, the adhesive may ooze or flow out along the edges of the joints or seams. People can believe that the flooring material is defective, but the real problem is that the concrete hasn’t been dried properly.
How professionals tender water-damaged concrete floors
Successfully drying concrete after water damage demands the help of a professional restoration firm. Just when professionals correctly dry the concrete can you install new floor coverings.
Listed below are key tools and methods that professionals use:
- Containment chambers assist with the evaporation of the moisture in the concrete. All these are either boxes or bubbles of plastic taped to the ground. By trapping the moisture released from the concrete in a small area, you can reach the right amount of humidity faster.
- Thermo-hygrometers and non-evasive meters are used to determine if the concrete is hitting the right humidity. Because concrete is water-loving, this ideal humidity may often be in the upper 60s. Any reading below 72 percent is enough to install carpet or tile floors. Wood flooring should have readings below 70%. If your flooring still requires more drying, then that is no problem for a professional flood restoration company.
- Low grain refrigerant (LGR) dehumidifiers — these devices lower air temperature in the moisture-filled area, which helps the dehumidifier remove more moisture in the air that passes through it.
- Extra drying can be achieved through air motion. Removing the boundary layer from the surface of the concrete also facilitates drying.
Note that each one of the various trades connected with installing floor coverings has established installment criteria. These criteria require the installer to determine that the subfloor (regardless of type) is in a decent condition to permit proper installation of almost any flooring covering.
In case you have experienced concrete floor water damage at your house, it is important to get hold of restoration professionals, for example, PuroClean. We’ve got the proper tools to dry your home’s concrete flooring correctly.
We’ll help minimize the reduction to prevent additional damage. We’ll then offer restoration services to return the home to a pre-loss condition as quickly as possible. All of PuroClean offices have qualified specialist technicians, they offer covid cleaning also. Visit them here for more information.
Find out the best way to protect your house from water damage and read this guide on things to do after enduring water and storm damage.