Can Professionals Deliver Successful Water Damage Mitigation for Kansas City Ceramic Tiled Floors?

8/26/2021 (Permalink)

SERVPRO Technicians use Different Strategies to Restore Water Damage Suffered by Kansas City Residential Flooring

Ceramic floors are popular in Kansas City, and water damage mitigation is the goal when they experience harm from spills or burst pipes. The ability of skilled Water Damage Restoration Technicians (WRT) trained through the Institute of Inspection, Cleaning and Restoration Certification (IICRC) to remove excess water and dry the subflooring is the key to water damage restoration.

Can SERVPRO Crews Mitigate and Remediate Water Damaged Ceramic Tile Floors?

Durable and close to waterproof if installed, grouted, and sealed properly, ceramic tiles in Kansas City homes frequently sail through a plumbing or appliance malfunction and subsequent water incursion with few residual effects. What do SERVPRO managers and IICRC certified technicians check when evaluating a tile floor’s integrity after possible water damage?

• Cracked or loosened grout and dislodged ceramic tiles signal water damage beneath tiles.

• If possible, we examine the subfloor from beneath for evidence of water leak-through.
• When the subfloor has plaster, drywall, or acoustical tiles beneath, we look for new staining, bulging, crumbling drywall, or broken plaster to indicate a ceiling leak.

When Kansas City Ceramic Tile Floors Need Water Damage Restoration, What Is the Protocol SERVPRO Follows?

Although the ceramic tiles themselves rarely suffer damage, the plywood subfloor often warps and expands. Breaks at the grout joints occur, and the tiles need resetting and grouting. This cannot happen until the repair or replacement of the subfloor. The SERVPRO crew will:

• Check for moisture under the ceramic tiles using a nonpenetrating meter.

• Dry the subfloor from the bottom, if possible, to reduce the warping. 

• In some cases, holes drilled into the subfloor can facilitate drying.

• Strategic removal of some ceramic tiles can permit top-down drying.

• If the plywood subfloor continues to exhibit warping even after appropriate drying, it may need full or partial replacement, requiring removing all ceramic tiles before resetting.

Your ceramic tile floors are in good hands with SERVPRO of Kansas City Midtown if in need of water damage mitigation. Call us at (816) 895-8890 to explore your options.