Here's a situation
we often hear from many that run into problems
with buckled floors. Floors buckle because
they have run out of room to expand across the
face of each board. In other words, the floor has
gained moisture either by the ambient conditions
within the home's structure or it has flooded with
water. With no more room to expand they lift from
the subfloor forming a tenting appearance.
Depending on the severity some can actually pop
loose from their fasteners (shown right).
Had
this problem been recognized earlier by minor
swelling, the floor could have been saved. The
determining cause of the problem was failure to
provide any protection under a crawl space that
was exposed to ground soil. That was not the worst
part of it. Rainwater had found it's way into the
crawl space area and puddled; leaving it sit with
nowhere to go but be drawn into the wood subfloor
above.
Moisture entered the wood subfloor and into the
planks themselves. In other areas of this home,
some areas were affected more than others, some
not at all. It had a direct relationship with what
was under the subfloor. Some may be wondering why
no moisture barrier under the hardwood? Ordinarily
you would see black asphalt felt paper that
functions as a vapor retarder.
The
product used was a wider four inch plank, often
known to cause cupping issues given the right
conditions in some locations. The installers not
only nailed the boards but used construction
adhesive in an effort to minimize the potential
cupping effect. It did not work. These kind of
issues are common with solid hardwood and rare
with engineered, but one should recognize
potential problems that may exist before any
installation is started.
How To Repair?
Depending on the conditions everything must be
dried out thoroughly with
corrective measures that
caused the problem taken care of. Instead of
removing the entire floor and starting over, it
may be possible to rip cut some board rows to
smaller dimensions so the flooring will fit back
into place. Keep in mind this solution only
pertains to mildly affected problems.
We suggest
consulting with a seasoned hardwood professional
to better assess the problems. More experienced
professionals will recognize the problems and
cause while performing moisture testing readings
that are vital to insure the problems do not occur
again. These procedures will also confirm the
hardwood be repaired at the proper time so it does
not become a rushed band aid solution.
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