Hardwood flooring is one of, if not the largest, investment in your home. Hardwood flooring can be negatively impacted by water damage more so than most other types of flooring. Whether solid site finished hardwood, or engineered hardwood, water and wood are not a good combination. If a water leak occurs in your home, from one of the many water sources throughout your home, (washing machine, ice maker, water line, water heater, toilet) or if water finds its way in through the roof or an exterior wall, identifying the source is crucial. If you can stop or turn off the source of water, do so quickly. Often times, if not stopped immediately, leaks that derive from freshwater pipes run continuously until the water is shut off at the source, thus giving the water plenty of time to find its way under the hardwood flooring, plywood underlayment, and plastic moisture barrier. While it may seem futile, drying your wood floors with towels and a wet-dry vac are recommended to help reduce the spread of water and minimize damage. Once the water has found its way under the hardwood flooring, subfloor and plastic moisture barrier it can take months, and in some extreme cases years before the water dries out. Water takes the path of least resistance, and this is why a leak in one area of your home may still impact the hardwood floors several feet away, or even in other areas of your home. Mold can start to grow within 72 hours, therefore Uptown Wood Floors recommends calling a reputable water mitigation company to extract any excessive amounts of water and begin the drying process on any walls the water may have traveled through. While there are some mitigation companies that will attempt to dry hardwood flooring using drying mats, in most cases once a mitigation company is needed the water damage is too severe for this technique to be effective. Immediate removal of the water damaged wood is the most effective way to stop the migration of water and keep damage to a minimum.