its an oak plank floor and seems to have expanded and lifted probably due to the warm and humid weather.I have read that a gap should have been left to allow for this.Can it be sorted out without having to take up the whole floor and is it a big job to get it corrected?
2007-07-15 10:31:36 · 6 answers · asked by Anonymous in Home & Garden ➔ Do It Yourself (DIY)
Your floor has absorbed moisture. And because of that, it has expanded and lifted.
1: Does your house have a crawl space? If so: There should be a layer of plastic on the ground. If not - put one there to cover each and every corner of your home. Do not allow the moisture from underneath your home to get to your hardwoods above. Put some fans on the floor after plastic is down - should dry out.
1A: Are you leaving the air conditioning on - or turning it off when you leave the house? Leave the air on! Hardwood prefers consistency!
2: If you are on a crawl space,and plastic is down, are the outside vents open? If not - open them - let the air flow! Put fans on the floor. Floor will dry out.
3: Are you on a slab? Did you put down a 3/4" floor? Did you put down plastic, plywood, and felt - or did you glue the wood directly to the slab. If you glued 3/4" wood to the slab - no option but total replacement. A solid wood floor, 3/4", 5/16", 1/2", 7/16" should never, never, never be glued. Solid wood wants nothing more in this world than to soak up moisture. Installers will tell you that they will use a urethane glue and that will keep it from happening....NOT SO! It's the nature of the beast! If you did plastic, plywood, felt...and boards are still lifting...how wide are the planks, and how close are you to a body of water? The wider the plank, the more surface area there is to absorb moisture. And were the boards properly acclimated upon time of installation? With a wide plank floor(4" -7") there should be at least two weeks of acclimation , exotics should go for 3 weeks.
4: Did you glue an engineered directly to the slab? If so, then they didn't leave enough expansion....this can be corrected by removing the shoe mold, and the installer(at his cost) can use a "toe kick saw" to cut the wood back, and then reinstall the shoemold. If they swear they left enough room for expansion - did they do a calcium cholride test before installation to prove that there wasn't 3 pounds of moisture per square inch in the slab???? Calcuim cholride test takes 72 hours...there would have been a disc placed on the slab....if not...I'm sorry, but it's sounding like a new floor for you.
Which ever scenario applies, this should fall back on the store or installer! They know the proper procedures for installations in your area!
2007-07-15 16:15:37 · answer #1 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋
I am thinking from my experience with 'wood working' that your floor has taken on moisture. This has caused the wood to expand and/or warp. If so it will not return to its previous condition. That is the problem with wood, once its warped it don't return to its previous state, even after it does dry out.
To be sure you should get a moisture meter. It has two probes you put into the wood and it will tell you what percent of moisture exist in the wood. High reading will tell you it has taken on liquid. Chances are the puddle rolled under the floor and this cause more than one board to absorb the liquid. If this is a recent happening, then there is a chance the puddle is still under the floor or evidence of its existance.
Is there any guarantee offered by the installers or the manufactorer? Don't do nothing to it yourself other than a moisture test until you check into guarantees.
Furthermore, before installing another floor locate and remove the source of the liquid ... it may be a slow leak somewhere ..even water coming in from an outside wall.
If that moisture test reveals a higher concentration of moisture near an outside wall - that would be my first guess. Perhaps a bad siding job allowing water to get behind the siding and come in around a window, for example.
Heat will cause wood to shrink not expand, moisture will cause wood to expand.
2007-07-15 21:57:28 · answer #2 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋
You can buy a new screw for repairing wood floors. I is a break away screw and it is designed to pull the floor back down and break away flush with the floors surface. This may work for a while. Make sure that you know the real problem. is the floor to tight or is the sealer gone. You may have to remove the old board or two and patch it. Tom Silvia from This Old House have the best ways I've seen. Check your local flooring supplier for their remedies. Unless you are a good woodworker, then I would hire a pro. It's your house, make the best of it.
2007-07-15 18:41:53 · answer #3 · answered by mr.obvious 6 · 0⤊ 0⤋
If you dont get any better answers, try this. Drill small holes in the wood and inject contruction adhesive(wood glue), enough to get underneath. Then put something heavy on top of it(heavy desk or washing machine etc.) I got a large syringe from my veternarian for a similar project. Its best to do it on a day when the humidy is low and things are dry.
2007-07-15 17:39:22 · answer #4 · answered by Nemo the geek 7 · 0⤊ 0⤋
yes it can be fixed........
its hitting somewhere along the base board or wall...
what you need to do is either take up molding or baseboard along all the walls and see where it is touching.......then take something,I have a special saw that can cut it,and cut a 1/4 or1/2 inch off the end of the boards......
as long as it is toching somewhere the floor will buckle sotry that out before you go to ripping it up...........
2007-07-15 19:08:08 · answer #5 · answered by don_vvvvito 6 · 1⤊ 0⤋
your new floor was soaked with water, so it has all soaked up the water and most likely will have to be replaced ,it will never fit agin in its installed place, , thats the bad thing aboud free floating wood floors,,sorry
2007-07-15 17:38:59 · answer #6 · answered by Sonny H 6 · 0⤊ 1⤋