Refrigerator leaked onto new hardwood floors

12 years ago

Hi folks,

A friend shot me the following email this morning and I thought I'd post it here in hopes that someone may have a solution on how to handle. Thanks for any input!

"I am sooooo pissed!!!!!!!! So sat morning when I got up I noticed water on the floor in front of the fridge. Overnight some of the ice in the door had melted and water leaked out of the ice machine part of the door. I wiped up the water and didnÃ¯Â¿Â½t think anything of it Ã¯Â¿Â½ took the ice bucket out and that was that. So last night IÃ¯Â¿Â½m walking bare foot in the kitchen and feel roughness under my feet. There are about 4 planks in front of the fridge that are now warped!!!!!!!!!! 4 planks wide and almost the whole length of the kitchen. Apparently the water got under them. I wanna cry. Do you think we have any recourse???"

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Comments (5)

aidan_m
12 years ago
Run a dehumidefyer and a portable fan, set them up right over the spot where the floor warped.
brickeyee
12 years ago
Tincture of time.

It can take many months for solid wood flooring to dry out again.
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hilltop_gw
12 years ago
Not a fun experience, but it will dry. Run the fan and dehumidifier. I'm not sure who they would have recourse with.....it was an ice cube accident.

We installed hardwood in our kitchen and just as deliverymen finished installing the new appliances I heard a lot of yelling going on. The hose on the back of the fridge had come loose and a fountain of water was spraying across the floor. They fixed it, I didn't complain. It dried. Year later a pinhole leak developed in the plastic waterline hose that was installed for the fridge. It likely sprayed a fine mist for days onto the wall behind the fridge which then followed a path along the subflooring. I didn't notice it till the floor started getting squishy and went to the basement (which we seldom use now that kids are gone) and saw the ceiling panels all wet. We replaced the plastic waterline hose with stainless steel, replaced ceiling panels and ordered new floorboards because the existing boards were warped pretty bad but installer said to wait a few months before installing so everything was fully dry. After a few months the boards were much better and we opted to not replace the boards. The installer said it would have been a huge undertaking around the island and such. I notice it, especially with bare feet, but it's not that noticeable. It only bothers me if I let it.
brickeyee
12 years ago
"Year later a pinhole leak developed in the plastic waterline hose that was installed for the fridge."

Use copper tubing to connect up ice makers and water.

And do not use a saddle fitting that pierces a pipe.

Solder in an actual valve and the correct adapter to the copper tubing.

This is NOT a good place to have a leak that might go undetected until the floor is wrecked.
sameboat
12 years ago
Same thing happened to me. I feel your pain. DH had just finished installing our new hardwood floor. I had never been so happy or proud of a floor in my life. I loved it. That very day, when he installed the new dishwasher, he didn't tighten the hoses completely and water got underneath our new floor and it warped something horrible. Big and lumpy. I was devastated! It took a few weeks, but with the advice of gardenwebbers, I placed a fan over the area and dried it out with a dehumidifier. The wood planks completely flattened out and only I could tell there was ever anything wrong. It was in a prominent spot, too. So believe me when I say it really WILL return to it's original condition. If I hadn't seen it with my own eyes I would not have believed it myself.