WATERFORD – A water pipe burst at the Elementary School over the weekend causing minor buckling of the gymnasium floor.

School officials say the floor, which is used for physical education and the cafeteria, is safe to use but must be repaired.

“You can feel it with your foot, just barely,” said Building and Grounds Director Dave Marshall, who examined the floor Wednesday morning to make sure it was safe to use. The room, which is part of a 1995 addition to the Valley Road school, is used as a gym for physical education classes and some recreation program activities and as a cafeteria for the students.

Marshall said a school custodian found the floor covered with about a inch of water on Monday after a water pipe froze and then thawed following last week’s sub-zero temperatures. School was closed Monday for the Martin Luther King Jr. holiday, allowing custodians to set up dehumidifiers to dry out the floor before students arrived at school on Tuesday.

“We’re waiting to see what happens,” said Marshall of the floor, which has curled slightly but poses no safety hazard to the students.

The school’s insurance carrier has been contacted and a determination is expected to be made in the next several days as to whether the floor can be repaired by simply sanding the narrow strips of wood or whether it will have to be replaced.

No damage estimate is available yet, he said. The floor comprises narrow strips of wood laid over a cement floor.

“Hopefully it’s the least disruption and we can sand and refinish the floor,” said Marshall of repair work.

The room will be monitored daily and if, at any point, officials feel the floor presents a hazard to students or staff, the room will be shut down, Marshall said. “I’m afraid we’re going to have some buckling issues,” Superintendent Mark Eastman told directors Tuesday night. “We’re very disappointed, but fortunately it didn’t go into any classrooms.”