Engineered Wood Flooring Cupping Problems

A vapor retarder installed between the subfloor and the floorboards can help the condition by slowing moisture migration but it shouldn t be relied on as a permanent solution to moisture problems.

Engineered wood flooring cupping problems.

However if the cupping is due to an underlying moisture problem the floors will stay in this position until that problem is corrected. Cupping most often appears after the floor has been installed and in some cases the floor will cup even if it was installed correctly. The planks that make up wood flooring expand and contract based on the amount of moisture in the room. How to fix cupped hardwood flooring.

As you eagerly anticipate a successful installation be aware that problems such as warping buckling cupping and crowning can really ruin your floor and your dream. Installing hardwood flooring is hard thoughtful work that if done properly can yield lifetimes of warmth elegance and beauty in a home or commercial setting. But it can also happen because of excessive drying on top of the board. As noted previously moisture movement within wood can be slow.

Most often cupping happens when flooring is installed over a wet basement or crawlspace. Cupping is caused by a moisture imbalance through the thickness of the wood. But the problem is really just cupping which happens when the top of the board is drier than the bottom of the board. Engineered wood flooring makes up more than half of the wood flooring sold and put to use in our industry.

Typically the cause of the imbalance is excess moisture from the subfloor. In many cases of slight to moderate wood floor cupping eliminating the source of the water and drying out the flooring can save the floor. Whenever there is too much moisture the wood expands. It should be noted that very slight cupping or crowning can take place within normal humidity changes such as with those of the changing seasons and periodically.

The wood is wetter on the bottom of the board than on the top surface which dries quicker than the bottom. Just running a fan or dehumidifier for a week will not solve most problems. Having a general appreciation of features and limitations of both solid and engineered wood flooring is a necessity for those working in the world of wood floors specifically when it comes to understanding how they both perform. Solid and engineered wood flooring can both cup.

Cupping and crowning are two terms used in the hardwood flooring industry to describe the reaction wood floors experience when there are problems with moisture levels in the home. We ll discuss each construction separately as the dynamics are different. Can wood floor cupping be. Cupping has occurred when the sides of flooring are higher than the center of the boards the surface of the board has a concave shape.