Ipe Engineered HardWood Floors Cracking- Link of Vivachick's 1 wk flooring install. What brand is the floor and what wear layer is on top and what year life is the warranty? Also what width are the floors and thickness of the total plank?

I am hoping flooring knowledgeable members answer you since I made it easier providing the link. I am a newbie with hardwoood flooring so I am helping in the only way I know how by making it easy to see the picture which does not seem acceptable to me.

I wonder if the slab was not level that could be one of the reasons?

Here is a link that might be useful:

Cracking or checking at ends of boards with areas further from ends lacking same. Normally associated with vapor or surface moisture.

Cracks in surface of engineered products often associated with knife checking. Severity may relate to manufacturing, maintenance and moisture. From NWFA Inspectors Guidelines .

I would suggest a independent inspector come out and do a on site inspection . I would not trust a mill rep , he is not there to protect your interest .

Thanks to both of you for the help. I do think this possibly *could* be caused by the dry climate here in Vegas, but honestly it seems weird to me that this would have happened just days after install. My installer did say these cracks were nothing like he'd ever seen before and he's used to installing wood in the desert.

The planks are 1/2 inch thick. The wear layer I *thought* was 4 mm, but could be 2 mm. The wear layer is ipe (brazilian walnut) covered in 7 layers of poly. The warranty is 25 years. I submitted a claim to the flooring company, but phila - you are probably right, I should look into having an independent inspection done. Cracking in several places in just 2 days seems weird to me.

"...honestly it seems weird to me that this would have happened just days after install."

Thin wood can loose moisture very quickly.

I have had even one inch thick wood crack in 24 hours from sharp changes in moisture content.

Thanks brickeyee for letting us know this so when I install my engineered hardwood flooring, I must make sure that in the winter time all three rooms have enough moisture in the air from humidifiers.

vivachick, how wide were the planks?

What is that white between the strips in your pics?

Engineered flooring will exhibit these symptoms when subjected to 'harsh' environemental conditions. Solid hardwood will do similar things.

My engineered flooring instructs says will void warranty if glued. Could only use an underlay. Not sure if this is your problem. See what your instructs say.

Peachie

Some updates -

Humidity in the room in question is 20%. Definitely far from the 30% they "recommend", but "harsh", I dunno? I did specifically ask my retailer if there were any precautions we should make given it's the desert and the dryness, etc, but they had NO mention of a humidifier and said the floors would hold up well.

The planks are 4 3/4" wide. Does that have anything to do with it?

As for the "white".. the weird thing is in person it doesn't come off that way. It is dusty in the room, but the seams don't seem white in person.

It was glued down using Bostik's best, which was a recommended glue for this particular floor. They have 4 glues you can use for their warranty, and this was a recommended one.

I'm still waiting to hear back from Ark Flooring.

I don't think most homeowners in the desert run a humidifier 24/7. Apparently I should have! Anyone with 'dry' conditions buy a humidifier and never turn it off?

RH is way to low . You should have it at least 35 % for health reasons alone .
Problem with retailers is most of them don't know anything except making a sale .

The wider the board the more it will be affected by RH and Temp changes .

This is a normal characteristic of any wood.

Wood swells with added moisture and shrinks with a loss of moisture.

Wood does best at a moisture content between 6-10% moisture content. At lower moisture content levels expect wood to gap, and crack as it dries out. Dense / Harder species of wood tend to crack more so than less density / softer species.

Salesmen and women, are going to tell you exactly what you want to hear, to make the sale. I have heard some real BS being fed to consumers, just to make the sale. After the sale denial of ever mentioning it happens.

They sell it, because that is what people want, not what is going to work. I would hold the retail sales accountable for misleading you to believe wood of any kind will work below 20% humidity, which leaves a wood moisture content of around 4%, which is so low, splitting is bound to start occurring on every board, to some extent.

IPE is grown in a rain forest. Now your trying to place it in a very arid environment.

This is all so helpful! I wish they would tell people this when they bought the wood. I realize as the purchaser it is my responsibility to do some research, but I *stupidly* assumed sales people living in Vegas and selling wood floors to people in Vegas might have at least said "purchase a humidifier" when asked "could there be any issues due to the dry climate".

Floorguy - for future reference, I guess I shouldn't have picked Ipe/walnut because of it's extreme hardness.. would a softer wood like say maple do better here ? I do plan on getting a humidifier , but maybe the problem could be lessened with a different wood species.

I'm still hoping the manufacturer/retailer do take some accountability as they are a B&M store selling exclusively to people living in the desert! *Fingers crossed*

Vivachick, Please keep us updated on your engineered hardwood problem partially due to not being informed by the sale people that in Arizona to have engineered hardwood floors you must run a humidifier.

I have been doing my research and since I got my new central air conditioner unit I am no longer afraid my place will get too humid in the summer time and too dry in the winter time for engineered hardwood flooring. Since I had to replace my central air conditioner/heater/compresser unit, I am finding out the new unit is so efficient that my humidity levels have been nice for me and my allergies and will be good for hardwood flooring also. This past winter the humidity actually did not get as dry as it used to with my old unit since my new heating system was so efficient that it did not have to run constantly. I also had on the top of the line humidifiers since I get nose bleeds when the air is too dry.

I do not have hardwood flooring yet but I can't live in rooms without some humidity and too much humidity makes mold grow and bothers my allergies. Hence, I always keep my humidity levels at 35% to 48% all year long. in the winter time, the lower levels apply and in the summer time, the humidity with no dehumidifier on is a little below 50% now. When I had my former central air conditioning unit, I had to run a dehumidifier all day and night so my allergies would not act up.

Please keep us updated since we all care and feel the retailer should take some accountability in not informing you that despite using engineered wood, you should run a humidifier since you live in the desert.

PROS: Ipe is one of the strongest and densest woods available for flooring applications. It is a great floor for heavy foot traffic. Ipe will hardly develop wear marks. If you have large dogs or children, ipe is a good wood floor choice. Even with a light finish, most spills will not penetrate the wood and will just sit on the surface. Ipe has a fairly straight grain. Sometimes this wood can also look very similar to teak. It resists decay and termite attack. It is a very fire resistant wood. The wood varies from a light golden brown with olive green accents to reddish brown to darker brown streaks.

CONS: You will not achieve color uniformity with this wood. I personally think it looks great but some people prefer a consistent-looking floor. Because it is such a dense wood, you will need to use carbide tools to machine ipe successfully. You will probably want to have an extra blade for your miter saw. Ipe will dull your tools. You will have to predrill all of your holes first. Your holes should be drilled pretty close to the size of the finishing nails. Otherwise your wood will split. You should experiment with ipe first to be on the safe side. You may want to get a few extra ipe boards. The sawdust from ipe can cause respiratory and dermatitis reactions. If you decide to go with the unfinished flooring (which I do not recommend), you should be wearing a very good respiratory mask.

Ipe is not a good choice for dry climates. It has a tendency to split and crack easily in low humidity conditions (under 35% relative humidity). It is very difficult for manufacturers to take ipe, a wood that grows in a rainforest where tropical rainfall is high, and effectively kiln dry it for conditions like northern Ontario where it is extremely dry in the winter. It is next to impossible to acclimate ipe to match the conditions of a home that has humidity swings. If you live in an area that has cold and dry winters, you don't want to get ipe flooring.

It has some finishing issues. Ipe has a unique chemical makeup that interferes a lot with the drying, adhesion and absorption of wood stains and topcoats. Because of its denseness, most stains usually do not penetrate below the surface of ipe. To be successful at finishing ipe, you need to be an experienced finisher. It is best to buy this wood as prefinished flooring for this reason.

TREE FACTS: Ipe refers to a cluster of trees from the Bignoniaceae family. These trees have similar physical properties. Ipe grows from Brazil to continental tropical America as well as some areas in Lesser Antilles. A lot of people are not familiar with ipe. Some North American manufacturers will refer to ipe as Brazilian walnut because it has similar properties even though it is different. Because it is such a dense wood, it has been used for industrial applications like railway ties and heavy truck bedding

Here is a link that might be useful: Ipe is not a good choice for dry climates. It has a tendency to split and crack easily in low humidity conditions (under 35% relative humidity).

How long was the flooring material in the house before it was installed? Most manufacturers want it to be stored in the house for a week or more to adjust to the environment before it is glued down.

glenster_jr, this is a good question and the installer should have insisted that the flooring material be in the house for the time period that the manufacturer recommended before an installation began.