RicodJour wrote:
On May 26, 8:56 am, "james" wrote:
Our office with laminate flooring was slightly flooded by an out of order
sprinkler outside the building.

We have mopped off the water on the floor. However, there is still water
underneath the floor. Stepping on certain areas would squeeze out some
water.

Do we have to tear out the whole floor to remove those water, or would the
water drain down through the foundation? Is there any company specializing
in this type of work?

The building is a 1-story commercial building.

Here are some photos showing the water on the floor:http://photographs.smugmug.com/galle...46490040_VYoRq

Ouch. You can see that the laminate flooring has swelled up at the
edges in places. That will never lay back down. Those boards will
have to be replaced at the very least. It's probably safe to assume
that more will swell up. The legs of the wood furniture will also
wick up the water ans start swelling or blowing off the finish. You
should never let stuff sit in water. I trust you just took those
pictures as evidence and then proceeded to promptly vacuum up as much
of the water as you could.

Most commercial buildings I have worked on had sealed concrete slabs.
You cannot rely on the concrete absorbing much water. I'd remove all
of the flooring back to where there is no more water in evidence. A
moisture meter would help determine how saturated the laminate and
concrete are, and would tell you when you had removed enough
flooring. Put the furniture up on some plastic blocks. Dry the place
out with fans, dehumidifiers, and/or sweeping compounds. An AC on a
continuous run will extract a lot of moisture. Meticulously clean
everything before anything goes back down. The worst thing you could
do is to put new flooring back down before the place is back to being
bone dry. Once mold starts growing it's a bitch to get rid of it.

You are looking at an insurance claim. You are probably looking at a
number higher than your deductible. Whether you want to make the
claim and risk affecting your premiums will depend on how much higher.

R
Does the floor have the foam underlayment like residential laminate
does? If so, even if it is closed-cell, that is a lot of little pockets
for water to hide in. Can you say mold incubator? Like everyone else
said- call your insurance agent. I take it you own the building? Only
sure cure is rip out, dry out, and replace as needed. ServiceMaster and
similar companies specialize in this kind of work, but at the prices
they usually charge, self-help demo and hiring a flooring company to put
down a new floor, may be about as cheap. Taking stuff out is easy, if
you don't plan on reusing it.

--
aem sends...