Hardwood floor buckeling and cupping after refinishing with poly

10 years ago

My daughter and my husband refinished her hardwood floors with Minwax products and finished the job about December of 2012. The floors and house date from the 1930's. The house is pier and beam construction with a crawl space under the house.
We have a problem and hope someone can guide us to resolve it. First, some of the oak strips are cupping. The edges are higher than the center of the board. Secondly and more worisome, there is a large hump in an area of the living room that was not there when they first finished the floors. It seems to be getting progressively higher.
Please make recommendations as to what we can do to reverse this problem.
Thank you.

Bobbie

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Comments (7)

User
10 years ago
I'd suspect that the crawl space is emitting too much moisture. Look for a plumbing leak or a blocked gutter or other issue with water draining away from the foundation. Or, did they install insulation under the floor? That can trap moisture against the floor.

Whatever the issue is, it's not the poly. It might be a minor contributor only if the floor didn't have any finish on it whatsoever. Sealing only on surface when the other can absorb moisture exacerbates the cupping caused by moisture.
PRO
BeverlyFLADeziner
10 years ago
I agree with GreenDesigns. Look to the crawl space for the problem. Too much existing moisture is causing the floor to cup.

Do it soon. If the boards cup too much, you won't be able to sand them down. The the only recourse then is to remove and replace.
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Sounds like a whole boat load of miscommunication between you and the finisher. What kind of "poly" is being applied to your floors? For the clearest look you need a non-yellowing two-part commercial quality waterborne polyurethane. Most oil-based polyurethanes are not clear and will impart a yellow cast to anything you apply it over and it will continue to darken with age. It is OK to use the first coat in gloss or semigloss. Some of us claim that you get a cleaner-looking result if the first coat is gloss or semigloss. I don't like putting two coats of gloss or semigloss on a floor where I will use a satin as the final, as any missed areas with that final coat show as glossy areas. If you want your floors to be given a 'clear coat'...then you must use a "quality" two-part waterborne polyurethane; oil-based is not going to give you that.
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PRO
BeverlyFLADeziner
10 years ago
I agree with GreenDesigns. Look to the crawl space for the problem. Too much existing moisture is causing the floor to cup.

Do it soon. If the boards cup too much, you won't be able to sand them down. The the only recourse then is to remove and replace.
goodbyekitty
10 years ago
Insulation under the floors can trap moisture? No one told me that when I had insulation installed under the floors a couple years ago. We are planning on putting in engineered wood floors soon. I did not realize this could be problematic.
User
10 years ago
You have to put down a vapor barrier against the soil and seal it to keep the moisture out of the crawlspace and home. Then, you can use the right kind of insulation. You want to be sure and do a moisture test before proceeding with choosing the type of flooring that will work in your home. And you also want to be sure to use your AC in the summer, and potentially a humidifier in the winter to keep the moisture levels relatively stable.

And I agree with the others. Without a doubt, it's a moisture issue causing the problem. You now have to play detective to find out what's caused the elevated humidity issues.
goodbyekitty
10 years ago
Don't mean to steal this post, but I know that when they came to insulate they put a moisture barrier on the ground. I made sure they did that. But also, from what I've googled, the paper side of the insulation has to be facing up (or against the floor) to be effective.

I'm going to have to check that. The company who did the insulation is "suspect" because they didn't even have a supervisor come out and make sure they did their job to my knowledge. Also, because I had to make 2 calls to them to make them finish it up before I paid the bill. Not a good experience.

Thanks Holly
glennsfc
10 years ago
There are many ways to handle moisture in a crawlspace and some are region specific. However, the main point is that you want to establish an environment below the floor construction that is near that above it. Humidity levels are key and keeping moisture from finding its way into the floor construction is also important.

Some new construction in Florida, for example, have crawl spaces that are sealed and then mechanically dehumidified in order to equalize the relative humidity between the occupied spaces and the cavities below.

Hardwood floor buckeling and cupping after refinishing with poly

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