Parquetry Floor Drying
NLR were responded to a situation, where a hot water pipe had burst in a two-bedroom unit. As a result, the responding NLR Technicians used injectidry systems to dry parquetry flooring.
#Project Highlights
2x
Injectidry System
2x
dehumidifiers
7x
air movers
16x
large suction plates
#Damage Caused
As a result, 53 m2 was of parquetry floor was affected. A hot water system burst within the two-bedroom unit. The water flooded onto the parquetry floor and into the two-bedroom units. Although the surface spread of the water was not very far, the water sunk through the parquetry floor to the acoustic underlay. Through capillary action, the water spread further. The water came up once more, and back into the parquetry floor, and caused visual cupping of the floor beyond the initial spread of the surface water.
Parquetry Floor Drying
To effectively dry, the new life technician installed 2 injectidry systems with suction plates, 2 dehumidifiers (1 refrigerant and 1 desiccant), and 7 air movers. Over a 7-day drying process, the floors, cavities, wall bases, and cabinetry all reached within acceptable drying limits.
Please watch the video for the full case study.
#Details of the job
Project Overview
A water pipe burst occurred in an inner Brisbane suburban unit, and whilst other restorers were first contacted to mitigate the problem, NLR restorations was later called in to finish the job.
The pipe to the hot water system inside the unit had burst, whilst tenants were out. It had been left for a few hours, leaking water through and underneath the parquetry flooring, into two bedrooms and the bathroom. As a result, approximately 53 m2 of parquetry floor was affected, as well as the acoustic underlay underneath.
The two bedrooms were also flooded and the carpets were taken by other restorers. This gave the NLR technicians direct access to drying the concrete subfloor, which was also wet. Additionally, wall bases, wall cavities, and fixed cabinetry were all saturated also.
The total spread of the water affected the parquetry floor was due to capillary action, which travelled further than the original surface water spread. The water travelled through the acoustic underlay, and up into the parquetry floor, causing visual cupping. This could not be dried through traditional top-down drying methods.
Scope of Work
Because of all this, the following drying equipment was installed:
- 2x injectidry dry systems, which included
- 2x suction pumps, 16x large suction plates,
- 7x small suction plates, 2x dehumidifiers,
- 7x air movers
Suction plates were sealed airtight against the parquetry floor. Yellow hoses were connected to these suction plates, which In turn were
connected to two injectidry suction pumps.
The suction pumps pulled the water out of the floor and expelled the water vapour towards the dehumidifier intake. The dehumidifier filtered the exhausted air and expelled the water through a hose directed down the shower drain.
Air movers were placed on the parquetry floor as well as the subfloors of the bedrooms, to create air movement to draw out the water into the air. This too was fed into the dehumidifiers to process the moisture out.
After the equipment was installed, daily monitoring of the drying process was undertaken. This was done by establishing 15 test points around the parquetry floor using a moisture meter with a hammer probe to measure moisture content. The monitoring of WME in the floor helped inform the technicians of the progress of the drying, and where to relocate or remove= drying plates.
All of this was done in a 7-day drying period. At the end of this process the parquetry floor, subfloors, wall bases, cabinetry, and cavities were reading relatively low within 2% of our drying goal. Equipment was removed, and a final wipe down and HEPA vacuum were done.
As a result, the visible cupping was significantly reduced and bedrooms were ready to have carpet and underlay installed. The moisture content in the floors and walls was in acceptable drying standards and after a month of further acclamation, the client will be able to sand down and seal the floor surface to a pre-loss condition.
#Do you Have a Water Damaged Timber Floor?
We can help you by providing a quote for the drying of the timber floor. We can conduct an assessment to see whether the floor is recoverable. If it is part of an insurance claim, we can provide a report for insurance purposes.
