How Long Until We Know If There Is Damage

Have you considered calling in a restoration company?
They might be able to get it dry enough so there isn't damage.

I hope you read this in time. Do not wait until you "know if there is damage"! If you wait to smell mold or see mildew, it's far too late -- you can possibly avoid that if you move fast, as in, tonight or very first thing tomorrow. (Yes, I've been where you are.)

Run to your nearest Home Depot or Lowe's or whatever is the closest similar store that rents equipment -- phone first, because not all stores in these chains rent out equipment. You need to rent a "carpet fan" pronto, tonight if you can. Don't be concerned that you don't need a "carpet" fan because it's laminate floor - this is for your walls etc. too. This is a heavy-duty fan that blows from a vent at floor level and blows very hard. Run it all night and all tomorrow as well; that may seem like a lot but do it anyway. Also buy a spray product (there are various ones) that kills mold and mildew in drywall and wood; ask the advice of the folks at the store, because you are NOT looking for the stuff you use on bathroom tile surfaces for normal cleaning, you are looking for a mold inhibitor spray. Tell them what happened. You need to dry extensively with the fan, then spray this stuff as directed on the joints and up the wall possibly too.

Water wicks up walls. Your walls may only look wet up to a certain point but wicking is going on that you won't see. Any wooden baseboards between wall and floor also need treatment.

Drying a floor with towels etc. or a house fan running all night does not cut it. You may think things feel dry but they probably are not.

I have dealt with this a couple of times in our basement with leaks onto our carpeted floors. If your floor is laminate directly on top of concrete they may come out OK, but your walls and wooden baseboards may not. Get the carpet fan going (again, a regular house fan does not do what you need done here) ASAP. It may take as much as 24 hours of use to be sure you really dried things behind the walls, for instance.But speed is if the essence here -- if you wait even another day to dry things, mold could get going.

Do call the company that installed the laminate flooring. If you didn't get it installed, call any local flooring company. Describe what happened, and ask their opinion. They may say to wait and see, or that you'll be OK, or they may want to take a look after you have dried things out with the carpet fan.

You may still need a company to come in and test for mildew and mold in the drywall and between the laminate and the concrete. There are firms that do this. If you need to replace things you must do it, unfortunately; mold can be dangerous and create respiratory problems. But the immediate response ASAP is carpet fan plus mold inhibitor. Be SURE to keep your kids very far from the tempting, entertaining, noisy fan and the sprayed walls (until the spray has dried).

We had a leak that flooded our hardwood. Unlike you, we did not catch ot quickly. It all warped. We called a guy in the business. He told us not to panic until we gave it 3 months to really dry. I'm so glad he did. Even though it had all warped, it laid back down after it was really dry, and we didn't need to have it fixed.

I don't know if laminate is similar, but my advice is that even if it does warp, don't panic and give it time.

Eta: I should note that I agree with others that drying is crucial. In our case, it was above the garage so we ripped out the garage ceiling to get in there with fans and dehumidifiers. Otherwise, as others pointed out, your big issue is mold not warped laminate.

Did you not call in Serve Pro or a professional to drying out? Why not?

You may believe you are dried and and not be, therefore setting up a mold scenario.

I would never attempt this on my own unless I was a professional did drying out water damage, which I am not.

I would get it checked out and see if you need to file a claim on homeowners . Still... I'd pay out of pocket if at all possible before filing a claim.

Good luck.

well, you'll probably know in a few days if you run powerful fans and get it dried out ASAP, but the problem is that you don't know what's going inside, isn't it?
it sucks, but i think your best bet is to bite the bullet and get a restoration pro to look at it.
so sorry!
:P khairete
S.

How long was the water on the floor? Call a restoration company and get their opinion. If the water got in/on the joints between the wall and floor then they may have to bring in a dehumidifier to dry out the walls too. (We had a leak in our wall 6mos ago so I just went through this)

As for the laminate, we have Pergo and the people who fixed our wall, etc walked around with snow on their boots, etc and left standing water. Our floor is destroyed. We couldn't see the warping until the floor had dried out. The floors we have are kind of like a hardcovered book, and until all of the pages in between the covers are completely dry (which depending on how long your floor was wet) you will not know if there is going to be warping.

Again, contact a professional ASAP and get them to assess. (We are looking at a whole new floor because of the contractors.). Do NOT wait!

Id go buy a bunch of damp rid and get a bunch of fans running ASAP. If you have trim on the walls, remove it. You need to get the dry wall dry. I'd be more concerned with mold growth than with the floor.

We had a 55 gallon fish tank crack and leak through our family room floor. We pulled up and threw out the carpet and pad, then called in ServiceMaster for them to dry out the hardwood floor underneath, and the water had leaked into the basement as well so there was clean up there too. They brought in two industrial-size dehumidifiers and 3 high-powered snail fans and ran them for 72 hours straight. They then measured the moisture level of the flooring the basement ceiling, and the air to make sure everything was dry.

I wouldn't mess around with this if I were you. Call in a professional. Moisture = mold. Have it professionally cleaned before you end up with black mold situation that ruins your floors, walls and makes you move out of your house.

This happened to us last year. My husband's toilet flooded. He was out of town, and his toilet room is on the far side of our master bath, probably a good 20 feet from mine, so I don't usually venture over there. It must have been flowing all day long. It completely flooded his toilet room and went into his walk-in closet, and by the time I came home that night, it was pouring down the walls forming a small lake in the area between the formal dining room and living room.

The hardwood flooring was already buckling and was a total loss.

I called the plumber that night. He came and stopped the flood and arranged for a restoration company to come first thing in the morning. They removed walls in my husband's bath and closet as well as in the living room and dining room. All of the hardwood floors had to be torn out as well as the baseboards.

Our LR and DR as well as half of our master bath was tented off behind plastic with dehumidifiers and fans running for several days before they could even start repairs.

I tell you all this because we probably live in an even drier climate than you, and yet, we still had to have walls, baseboards, and floors replaced.

Don't underestimate the damage water can do. This is not a situation where you cut corners on repairs. Get a restoration company in there to assess the damage fully. Have them test for moisture and mold in the affected wall, floor, and baseboard areas. They will also be able to tell you whether the laminate will hold up over time after having been completely flooded.

You may also want to contact your insurance agency first as some or all of this may be covered, depending on your insurance. If this is covered under your policy, you'll want to use a restoration company that works with your insurance. They'll provide you with names of companies they use. We have Allstate, and thankfully, we were covered. Our home insurance premiums did not go up as a result of this as we had not had any other claims.

Good luck. I truly feel for you. Hang in there and trust the professionals to handle this.

J. F.

Get a dehumidifier or damp rid in there ASAP. You can also put a fan in to dry everything out.

If you have a second bathroom I would use that one for showers, etc. for a couple of days. If the flooring is damaged you will start to see it warp as it dries out.

If you need to replace it I would go with vinyl wood planks, they wont get damaged if wet and they are not expensive.

I'd run a fan in there and/or use some DampRid to really dry the area and absorb the moisture.
You might be alright.
You'll see within a few days.

You may have lucked out because you got water up quickly. Once it completely dries you will have your answer.