Difference Between Waterproof and Water-Resistant Flooring and What Happens in the Event of a Water Loss

10/27/2021 (Permalink)

Waterproof vs Water Resistant: What’s the Difference?

First, you need to know what waterproof vs water resistant means. Both terms refer to a material that can prevent water from absorbing into the material or repel water, which is great for bathrooms or kitchens. However, they’re not interchangeable terms.

Waterproof refers to a permanent material, which means water won’t penetrate the flooring itself, no matter how much time goes by. A water-resistant floor (like laminate or vinyl tile) refers to how flooring material protects flooring substrate from water infiltration.  One point to keep in mind about water resistant flooring is the time you can allow water to sit on top of the floor. If you mop up water on the floor somewhat quickly, it won’t have time to absorb into the floor and impact the material underneath. Water doesn’t go through water resistant flooring as quickly as it does with something like wood flooring.

What Happens in the Event of a Water Loss?

Vinyl plank flooring is also advertised to be water-resistant. While vinyl plank flooring does resist water damages like warping, cracking, or peeling, this type of flooring presents other challenges when a water damage event occurs.

Broken water heaters, overflowing washing machines and burst water supply pipes are common causes of water damages.  However, despite the cause or size of the disaster, the water damage mitigation process is always the same. During a water damage, our team at SERVPRO of Dale City/Lake Ridge and SERVPRO of Woodbridge/Lorton inspects and assesses damages, extracts the loose water, utilizes air movers and dehumidifiers to dry affected materials, and cleans remaining materials. Vinyl plank flooring interrupts this process, adding more required demolition to the scope of work.

During the initial inspection, our team must inspect all potentially affected areas to determine where the water has traveled and where it may be hiding. If not addressed, the water you can’t see can lead to future secondary damages such as microbial growth. While water may not penetrate through the vinyl plank flooring, it will almost always migrate under the flooring by way of the edges of the room. Water trapped behind baseboards will flow under the flooring.

Vinyl plank flooring acts as a vapor barrier, trapping the water beneath. This presents two issues. One, our mitigation team cannot extract water hiding underneath the flooring. The hidden water will not vaporize through the flooring to be extracted via dehumidification either. And two, the subfloor will not be able to dry properly with this vapor barrier holding moisture. Both issues can lead to future microbial growth problems. Therefore, all affected vinyl plank flooring must be removed after a water damage event to ensure proper drying. Luckily, some vinyl plank flooring is easy to reinstall once mitigation is complete. This depends upon the initial installation method.

Our knowledgeable team at SERVPRO of Dale City/Lake Ridge and SERVPRO of Woodbridge/Lorton has been serving our communities for 17 years and is always here to help.  If your home or business has incurred water damages, we are ready to respond 24/7/365.