hardwood floor cupping concrete slab

With dry concrete and the right subfloors and vapor retarders solid hardwood floors can be installed on slabs that are either on-grade at ground level or above-grade above ground level. Hardwood floor cupping concrete slab.

Getting It Right Wood Flooring Over A Concrete Subfloor Page 2 Of 3 Construction Specifier

I have had both the manufacturer as well as the company who installed the floor.

. Theyre easy to spot and often occur when the wood is already too far gone to reuse. Before you look at any flooring options for basements or wetter areas all moisture has to be controlled. The sides of the boards will be curled upward so that the edges are higher than the center of the board.

It did not work. Related Questions Is a moisture barrier necessary for wood floors. It may be considered to be the opposite of crowning where the center of a plank rises higher than the edges.

This happens when the up-side of the floor planks loose moisture and shrink but the down-side does not follow. Basement Wood Flooring Options. In both cases your floor will lose its even smoothness resulting in its surface becoming irregular.

Fasten the plywood to the concrete using powder-actuated fasteners or concrete nails. With the improvements in hardwood floors most engineered and longstrip engineered plank floors can be used over a concrete slab. Peaking Hardwoods Peaking appears much like buckling but occurs from a different cause.

Treated plywood to the concrete with concrete screws spaced every 16 in. When one side of the floor is exposed to excessive moisture that side will expand causing the. Lay 34-inch plywood sheets opposite to the direction of the finish flooring leaving a 14-inch gap between panels to eliminate squeaking.

Hire the Best Wood Floor Refinishing Contractors in Piscataway NJ on HomeAdvisor. Buckling Over Concrete Slabs. Can you put hardwood floors on a concrete slab.

Concrete sub floors or installations that buckle over concrete can be caused by several reasons. Moisture can destroy hardwood flooring. These kind of issues are common with solid hardwood and rare with engineered but one should recognize potential problems that may exist before any installation is started.

This imbalance could either be moisture from the concrete environmental conditions in the space being to dry and drying out the top of the wood andor a wood floor that wasnt properly acclimated to the environment prior to installation. Installing floors is a difficult DIY job. Sanding a cupped floor flat before it is brought to a normal moisture content can eventually result in a crowned floor convex surface once the drying process is complete.

Moisture can pose problems for solid hardwood floors below ground level so engineered wood floors made of layers of wood glued together are the best choice there. Cupping in hardwood floors refers to a condition that causes individual planks to rise at the sides. Compare Homeowner Reviews from 12 Top Piscataway Wood Flooring Refinish services.

Cupping crowning or buckling are all more severe and apparent signs of underlying hardwood problems. It can also happen when the down-side of the floor. What wood floor can I install over a concrete slab.

I had a very expensive hardwood floor installed on concrete about a year ago. Lay 6-mil polyethylene sheeting over the concrete to minimize moisture migration from the concrete up into the wood flooring. Most flooring manufacturers say you should not install hardwood over concrete if the tests show the moisture emission rate.

On the other hand there are several early warning signs of hardwood floor on concrete slab problems that arent nearly as dramatic. It causes cupping warping and even mildew if. Two weeks ago I started to notice that the dining room floors were buckling upwards and its getting worse and worse.

The cupping is due to some type of moisture imbalance in the wood flooring itself. I was thinking of using the Kerdi Membrane up the wall about 8 inches and sealing it to the concrete. A cupped floor has a concave shape across the width of the boards.

Generally concrete sets in 24 to 48 hours allowing one to walk on it. Gluing a wood floor to anything is inherently risky because this install method allows air movement over the top of the wood but not the bottom encouraging moisture to congregate there. Engineered planks and strip wood floors can be glued directly to a clean dry well-cured.

Buckling hardwood floors occur when there is excessive moisture caused by flooding or a build-up in moisture from say your basements concrete slab subfloor. I had a very expensive hardwood floor installed on concrete about a year ago. The floor is a concrete slab with the drain already installed.

70 of our floor installed over concrete is cupping. Place a 6-mil polyethylene vapor retarder directly over the concrete. Anything from pipe leaks to a still-wet concrete slab to improper HVAC usage can cause cupping.

Do I need a vapor barrier for hardwood floors The answer is YES. Solid wood floor cupping occurs as a result of an elevated moisture content in the bottom of the flooring as compared to the moisture content at the face. As weve learned wood floor cupping is caused by the expansion of the floor planks due to moisture.

Moisture can destroy hardwood flooring. What happens when that moisture releases from the floor and it returns to its original state. No moisture barrier.

For your areas with concrete slab engineered wood will be your best bet. Within seven days you can expect the slab to cure to about 70 percent of full strength. Gluing a wood floor to concrete is inherently risky because concrete is a big sponge that absorbs and releases moisture in an unpredictable and uncontrollable manner.

It started cupping in places within a month and now the problem has spread to about 70 of the floor. My hardwood floors are cupping I recently bought a house last December that already had engineered cherry wood flooring installed throughout. Once cooled back down this process is added insurance to produce a stabilized product that will reduce the opportunity for doming or cupping due to stresses between the layers in the finished planks.

Engineered hardwood flooring is made from a high. Wood is hygroscopic meaning that it absorbs and releases moisture. If the floor elevationslab elevation is at or below grade than water problems are in.

And in about 28 days the concrete should be approaching full strength. Moisture If you want to install wood flooring in damper areas like basements moisture will be your main problem. You may not need to build a plywood subfloor on top of the concrete slab depending on the floor system you choose.

The easiest way to install hardwood is a floating floor. Manufacturers do not recommend using solid hardwood flooring over a concrete slab. The edges of the floor planks are pulled up and the center remains lower.

You have two basement wood flooring options solid hardwood or engineered.

Cupped Hardwood Floors