Wood Floors Rising Up

If solid wood floors are fitted without an expansion gap problems which can sometimes be severe are likely to arise.

Wood floors rising up.

Solid wood flooring takes in moisture when there is a high level of humidity in the air and then the flooring lets that moisture go when the humidity in the atmosphere reduces again. Floor buckling happens most often after a floor has been flooded for an extended period of time. Often wood floors that are bulged can dry out and return to their reasonable condition on their own especially laminated floors or parquets which have not been exposed to moisture too long. Like cupping wood floor crowning happens because the boards are exposed to a moisture imbalance over an extended period of time.

This typically involves a plank or series of planks and the causes can include expansion after installation moisture or flooding or problems with your subfloor among others. When humidity is high the wood expands. When temperatures rise and or humidity levels rise your wood will expand and if there has been an insufficient expansion gap left around the perimeter of your room the risk is that the wood will pop up as it expands because there s nowhere for it to go. Floor buckling is the most extreme reaction to moisture in a hardwood floor.

In winter when homes are heated and the air is dry wood flooring gives up some of its moisture and therefore shrinks. Buckled bent or heaved floors will never correct themselves. Buckling occurs when the wood flooring actually pulls up from the subfloor lifting several inches in one or more places. Fortunately this is not a common occurrence.

Wood floor crowning is the opposite of cupping and happens when the center of the board is higher than the edges. If the flooring is linoleum. Crowning can also be caused by previous floor cupping. Both problems are usually because of water damage but although that s the most common cause it s not the only one.

Moisture causes expansion across the wood grain of your floor. If the hump in the floor feels spongy or gives underfoot when you walk on it the most likely cause of the problem is underlayment that has come loose from the subfloor. During warm humid weather wood expands during dry weather it contracts. The root causes of buckling and peaking to fix buckled or peaked wood floors it s essential to understand what causes the wood to warp.

Here s how that happens. Towel up all the water you can and allow to dry.