So the clothes washer decided to spring a very small leak. Something pinholed the front loader's seal and allowed a few cups of water to escape. Ran to the wood floor and is causing about 10 square feet to buckle.

One of the local water removal places wants $1,600 to simply dry the area out, no repairs, just a humidity sucking mat on the second floor and a fan into a can light below to circulate the air.

We have a flooring company coming tomorrow, and my idea is for them (one of the best in town) to pull up the damaged area to check for water damage and mitigate any potential mold issues, sand, stain and relay the floor. They are going to have to do that anyhow since the wood is cupping.

Do I need to go through the extra expense if the floor is coming up anyhow?

I don't think so. Turn your a/c temp setting down and put as many fans in the area as possible to just move air around.

I have a wood floor in my kitchen and directly beneath one area is an AC duct. It sweats like a bitch in the summer, so much that the subfloor and wood floor would absorb the water.

This caused the flooring to cup badly. However, once it dried in the fall and winter through spring it would go back to flat. Perfectly flat.It is a red oak real wood 2 1/4" flooring.

So, given a little time it may flatten back out. I wouldn't rush to replace it.

I minimized my summer problem by installing a exhaust fan in the crawl space close to the ac duct. I still see a little cupping but so little I call the problem solved.

I have never seen any evidence of mold.

Over the summer I had to replace a section of hardwood floor and the sub floor under the refrigerator due to a leak in the condensation tank. I couldn't match the hardwood and will eventually have the entire kitchen floor sanded and re-stained. I wouldn't pay to have a company dry it out since you are having a floor company come in. I'm sure the flooring company will tear out the old hardwood and if needed let the sub floor dry for a few days.

Your insurance might cover it. It did ours when a refrigerator leaked. But then you might not want to put it in for a claim.

Check with your insurance.

Turn your AC down it will help suck moisture out of the air.

Fans are good.

Is it true hardwood flooring vs laminate or engineered. The first may be repairable. The latter will likely need to be replaced.

Just an update.

The floor company came by and said to try to dry it out for a bit longer. It is unlikely to fully cure the cupping, but may make it tolerable until we can take care of the whole room.

Matching the staining will apparently be very difficult if only a section is removed and replaced.

Thanks for the suggestions

I just went thru a similar experience late in July with the bathroom, bedroom, and kitchen. Serv-Pro came out. Sixteen high-velocity fans, and two industrial dehumidifiers and three days later, it was dry. Expensive, but insurance covered it. I'm now waiting for contractors and flooring.

You got off lucky.

Good Luck,

RMD