What possibly caused this hardwood cupping?
Hello,
I'm posting this with hopes to get some help with identifying what could have caused 'cupped' hardwood floor in a small area in kitchen of my house that was discovered few days ago. I have attached a few pictures showing the problem area. We moved into this house spring of last year and there was no issue with hardwood floor and most of the first floor is hardwood. But, few days ago I discovered bad cupping occurred to a part of hardwood floor in the kitchen area shown in pictures.
This area is about 8~9 ft long and 1 ft wide (2~4 boards). It starts from and it is worst near where the refrigerator is and right next to 3 cupped boards there are also 2~3 boards that are swollen (these board above the others). Since we discovered the cupped floor, I have checked the crawl space under that area but could not see anything unusual but did not have any tools to measure moisture level. Also, there are no other areas that floors are cupped.
You can see from one of the pictures that there is a refrigerator right next to where the cupping begins and also laundry room with washer. I thought there might be leaks from washer water connection so checked that area but could not identify anything. But, I could not see back of the refrigerator for possible leaks yet (couldn't move this thing out).
I understand it's best to have a flooring expert come out to look at it, but wanted to see if folks in this forum could possibly point out what could have caused this cupped floor.
Thanks for taking your time to read! Hopefully; someone can help me out.
Comments (12)
Jun
6 years agoCouple more pictures. I see there are gaps between cupped floor boards. It's not getting any worse but not better either. By the way, I live in NC and it's not been wet.
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HELP!!! Hardwood Floors Cupping
Comments (12)@nikki1307 - I'm sorry to say but you needed to have the vapour barrier in the crawlspace BEFORE the floor was installed. Sorry but this is not the fault of the flooring installers. A General Contractor (who is INSTRUCTED to investigate the crawlspace and correct it prior to flooring being installed) could have caught this. Now that this has happened, you will need to get the vapour barrier over the earth in the crawlspace QUICKLY. The garage space is another problem. Garage "slabs" (concrete normally) rarely have vapour barriers installed under them. Therefore the concrete in the garage will be allowing water vapour through at a rate that is ALMOST as bad as the crawlspace. When applying vapour barriers to a CEILING in a garage, you will need some help. The one thing we try to avoid is a "double" vapour barrier. That's a bad situation. You will want to contract a moisture remediation company (when you deal with the crawlspace) to help with the garage ceiling. As for what the wood will do "after" the moisture has been dealt with, it will take TIME. Lots and lots of time. You will apply the vapour barriers (possibly a dehumidifier in the garage to help you if you can't get a vapour barrier on the ceiling....wood does NOT like plastic sitting next to it) and then wait. The wood will correct a LITTLE bit...maybe 25% - 50% better. It takes a LONG TIME for wood to LOOSE moisture. Almost TWICE as long as it takes it to GAIN moisture. So if this has been going on for 4 years....you can almost certainly double that time to lose it. I would give it a few years (like 2) and then look to see how much the wood has corrected. You don't want to do ANYTHING to it until you are CERTAIN that the change in appearance is "finished" changing. Once you have waited another 2 years (or so...it isn't set in stone) you can then go ahead and have it sanded and refinished. Once it has STABILIZED (this is SUPER important) then the chances of it changing and cupping again are VERY slim.... Until another moisture issue pops up. Then all bets are off - of course....See MoreCupping hardwood
Comments (5)kntry Sorry to hear about your leak and collateral damage The good news is hardwood can be forgiving. The narrower the boards the better the chances are for recovery. Do all that you can to dry out the area - commercial dryers, dehumidifiers - It may take weeks before the boards settle - Other variables are where you live, what season it is. Cupping is not something that can be typically sanded out good luck...See MoreHardwood floor cupping - who to call?
Comments (4)Sorry to hear your floor is cupping. There are many many factors that go into this problem. Humidity and temperature among them. I live in the Dallas area and have similar problems I had a similar floor laid in my home on a concrete slab foundation. First a layer of sheet plastic was put down, then 5/8" plywood, then a layer of felt, then the flooring. My floor cups badly every winter. Mostly I think it has to do with the incredibly dry room air. I wish I had had the floor handscraped thereby reducing the unsightly effect, but the wife wanted an elegant sanded and sealed look, unfortunately there isnt anything elegant looking about a badly cupping floor. In the summer the floor isnt quite as bad. I'm sure you dont want to hear this, but try to get used to it, a good fix is not probable. I had several concerns about the relative humidity of everything...my home, the wood, the slab, etc. etc. and in the end the installer reassured me that it was all withing normal limits. A year after his install his company is nowhere to be found. Next time I'm going with a sealed concrete slab, everything I put on it is an incredible hassle. Good luck....See MoreWhat could be causing this moisture on old hardwood floors. No leaks.
Comments (17)Pull everything up (so your are staring at the joists and looking into the basement) and then lay your first layer of substrate. Leave alone over the weekend. Look at it again after a few days. *IF this is URINE from a cat, you would be able to smell it from the driveway. With that amount of urine, you wouldn't be able to walk in the front door without a respirator on! I kid you not. The ammonia in cat urine (in that amount) is enough to eat lung tissue...just from breathing. *If this is coming from an unfinished basement (I'm seeing diagonal subfloors in one photo = WELL before the 1980's) then the issue will appear once more. *IF this is coming from a pooling event from an upper leak (I know... you say it isn't a problem...but water LOVES to travel downwards using anything that runs perpendicular to the floors (ie. framing). Start at the beginning, and see what happens with NEW substrates. Each step will tell you more and more about your situation....See MoreJun
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6 years agoI was able to pull the fridge out and the floor looks pretty bad there :(
I believe the water leak is not coming from water connection for the fridge but from behind the wall where a washer is because it looks like the left side of the floor looks the worst.
I could not find any evidence of water leak in the water connection for the washer and a sink next to it, but DID see some evidence I’m the crawl space underneath. There was a small area that has dark/wet subfloor wood and rusted nail but I couldn’t see anything going on actively.
Would ne be from behind the drywall where water connections for washer is?There was nothing wet in the laundry room, but floor is tile so I’m not sure. Base board looked okay.
I called the builder and left a VM (it’s bull in 2013) Hopefully he can come out and tell me what’s going on...
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