Your three options are:

Remove the wool rug regularly and let the area and the rug dry out (perhaps overnight)

Don't put a rug there at all, or replace with a very thin rug

Get another rug and rotate them, making sure you let the floor air out from time to time.

Using a plastic/gel mat will just make the matter worse.

Personally, I'd get rid of the rug, although it sounds a little fishy to me that it would absorp enough water to warp your floors. Yes, it's a good idea to wipe up spilled water but you don't have to be fanatic about it. It takes a fair amount of water to warp a floor - are you really sure there isn't a leak somewhere.

I have had wood in my kitchen for eight years, with a rug in front of my sink. No damage to the wood at all. The only place I see any damage (it is minor) is in front of the dishwasher and just under the fridge. I know that the damage by the fridge is from my kids dropping ice cubes and not bothering to pick them up!

Sounds like a slow leak or water under the floorboards or something like that to me.

cindyinsocal - was your floor site finished or prefinished? There's a difference.

I've seen firsthand where a smallish amount of water trapped between a wood floor and a thick material (such as a heavy wool rug) can indeed cause damage.

Pbrisjr--My floor was factory prefinished. That may be why I have had no problems. We are not good at all about wiping up water drips, etc. I guess I'm lucky that I haven't had more damage.

Elenal here: thanks all for weighing in on this matter. I agree that it seems strange that this could have happened w/o some kind of slow leak. But the check ups we had from these two plumbers (one was very experienced and extremely thorough) found no slow leaks anywhere. I'm glad to hear from Pbrisjr that this doesn't all sound so crazy. I take it that the plastic/gel mat will make things worse by really trapping any moisture between the gel mat and the wood floor. Sounds like the best bet for me is to not have any rug there at all, and to wipe up spills immediately. Thanks all!

In our old house our half bath had a funky smell and I insisted that there was a leak. We had plumber after plumber come out and none of them could find a leak. Finally, the floor buckled and the plumber said it was because the wax ring needed to be replaced.
A year later, we still had the same odd smell and the floors (which we had already replaced) once again buckled. We called another plumber out who agreed that no leak could be found. When we sold the house, guess what?? The home inspector found a slow leak in the half bath vanity sink. All that time and money with plumbers and it was the home inspector that found the root of the problem!!

Buckled dramatically? That sounds more like a leak than little spills to me.

But the only way you'll know for sure is by banishing the rug for 8 months. Live rugless for the same amount of time that you lived with the rug. If the problem reappears (and you've been wiping up spills), it's a leak.

Thanks so much for the suggestion mmme. That is exactly what we are doing right now. And I agree it still seems weird to me, and karalouise's experience is certainly making me think about a plumber #3. Thanks all. We'll stay rugless and see what happens in 7 more months..

Sorry for the delay in acknowledging the last batch of postings-got called out of town and was away from my computer.

Hi,

My kitchen has cork flooring and I'm very careful about water spills. Nonetheless, I am the sloppiest person when it comes to loading the dishwasher, water all over the floor. I have a microfiber rug in front of the sink that I got at BB&B.

After I load the dishwasher or any time I use the sink and get a bunch of water on the rug/floor, I take the rug up and drape it over one of the kitchen chairs to dry. I also wipe up any water spills that went beyond the rug and onto the floor. The next morning the rug is dry and I can put it back in front of the sink.

That's my system to protect the floor from water spills. I don't know if it will work for you or the extent of your water damage. I just thought I'd pass on what seems (knock on wood!) to work for me.

Karen

Am in the process of installing oak floors in the kitchen & asked my guys for rug advice. They said anything that breathes is o.k.. but no solid rubber or vinyl. So put the wool only on top of those open mesh under-rug pads was his advice.

I'm using a thin cotton rug from IKEA, placed on a very thin rubber webbing mat to keep it from sliding around. It catches all of the water, grease, juice, whatever falls down there, and then I throw it in the washing machine once a month.

I also put one in front of the rangetop. Grease splattering over 10 years in front of a stove can cause more damage to the finish than water.

We have finished in place maple floors. After a party, someone had let a water bottle leak thru her purse into the floor. We woke up the next morning to buckled and swollen floor boards. Thanks to some folks in here in the flooring forum, we just let it dry out and in 2 weeks it was flat and buckle-free.

If you have water leaking from above, as long as you wipe it up the finish and wood will be fine. Wood floors are more resilient than we give them credit. However, a leak from underneath is pretty serious. We had to replace and reframe our entire master bathroom walls and floor joists from a bad tile job by a previous owner. Years of water leaking thru caused all sorts of dry rot and mold.

I would use a lighter area rug in front of your sink instead of a wool rug, or do as one other poster suggested...pick the rug up every night to let the rug and floor dry out.

If you slop enough water on the floor to create buckling, I would be hesitant to go without a rug. I'd buy/use a lighter rug. Not sure why you'd have to hang it to dry every night (where would you hang it- wouldn't it drip onto the floor anyways?)

We have a long rug in front of sink and DW and it catches all those inevitable drips- floor would be a mess without the rug.

I've even had potted plants overflow and huge puddles sitting on floor unnoticed overnight or longer with no harm done. Guess there are different water resistent qualities in different finishes- though I thought factory finishes were supposed to be the toughest- ours is aluminum oxide.

Use the wool rug in a non-wet area.

We had wood buckle on a piece of furniture because of it's proximity to both an air conditioner vent and sunlight. The air ran right next to it and cooled it, then the sun would shine in through a glass door and warm it causing condensation, and over time (a matter of months if I remember correctly) the wood buckled. Probably a long shot, but could there be a chance you have a situation causing a similar effect?

What I find strange about this is that the rug was WOOL. Wool is a naturally water repellent fiber-think Aran fishermans sweaters (the ones the actual fisherman wear). Wool has lanolin in/on it- a natural emollient that repels water. I have a wool rug in my living room, and is my rug of choice BECAUSE it beads spills up on the surface mostly (I have 2 small children so I have messes always).

It is definately a leak form somewhere. Water stains under the rug might be plausible, but buckling? No way!

Thanks, all, for the new round of thoughts and suggestions. We're watching the floor carefully, and are going rug free for at least several months and wiping up all spills very carefully (a bit of a pain, to be sure). If the problem with buckling doesn't reappear, then we'll buy a thin rug of the sort folks have described and leave it to hang over the back of one of the counter stools overnight. Thanks again for sharing thoughts on what I agree sounds like a weird situation.

To identify faster I would try putting down some paper at night right where the wood buckled when you are not running the kit water so you know you are not dripping. Even if the paper dries you can tell if it has been wet.
I only suggest trying to identify faster because you really do not want even a slow leak to continue to do damage.
By the way for over 25 yrs I had site finish oak floors with a wool braided rug in front of sink. The only problem I ever had was a slow DW leak that actually leaked under the wood floor into the plywood base so it was never noticed. Once DW was replaced I never had another problem and I was not deligent about wipping drips.

This is a long shot, but if you did not properly acclimate your flooring before installation, and/or it was improperly installed it can cause buckling. When we installed our floors, we left the wood out in open boxes for 2-3 weeks before installation so it could acclimate to our rooms humidity level. Then during installation we left 3/4 of an inch by all the walls so it has room to breath with changing humidity levels. Maybe enough room wasn't left under the counter for breathing and the rug being there is just a coincidence.

My floor has recently buckled in my kitchen right under my sink. Very similar to what the initial poster has experienced however I do not have a rug in that spot. I am not diligent about wiping up spills, so there could have been a puddle of water sitting overnight after doing dishes.

Am I to understand that this will likely go away within 2 weeks or so? I've put some weights on the spot (it's only buckling between 2 boards right now - at least very noticeably so).

Thanks for your input.

I'm curious if the OP ever discovered what was causing the problem.

slingergirl, how old are your floors? We had some slight buckling near our fireplace hearth due to settling when our house was about a year old. I'd be surprised if a little dripping from washing dishes would cause buckling. Our house is 11 years old now and I'm not diligent about wiping up little spills either.