hardwood floor cupping causes

Fix any leaks and drainage issues that are causing it. But the cupping of hardwood floors that happens due to seasonal change has a short-term effect.

Why Are My Hardwood Floors Cupping Crawl Space Brothers

This is when the real wood floor problems start like hardwood floor raising up often accompanied by cupping or swelling starts.

. Crowning indicates that the moisture buildup is located toward the center of the floor. Cupping occurs when your hardwood flooring lifts at the edges only. How to Repair Your Buckled Hardwood Floor 1.

Solid wood floors cup as a result of elevated moisture saturation. Your hardwood floor during the Humid Season. 1 The most common cause of cupping is a direct result of job site moisture conditions.

Causes of Crowning and Cupping. The back or bottom of the flooring expands and is wider than the top. A moisture differential within individual pieces of flooring usually excessive moisture on the underside of the flooring.

What Causes Hardwood Floors to Cup. Anything from pipe leaks to a still-wet concrete slab to improper HVAC usage can cause cupping. During warm and humid summers your hardwood floor will absorb moisture from the air swelling and expanding as a result.

Cupping will cause a hardwood floor to look wavy. Moisture content change due to humidity combined with temperature can cause wood to contract and expand. Cupping occurs in solid wood flooring as a result of an elevated MC in the bottom of the flooring compared with the MC of the face.

The cupping of hardwood floors can be caused by seasonal change as well. Wood is hygroscopic meaning that it absorbs and releases moisture. If the cupping is.

Ensure that no water is standing in the basement or crawl space under your house. High Relative Humidity Even the most carefully installed flooring can be subject to hardwood cupping especially during the humid summer months. The general effect is easy to demonstrate by putting a small strip of paper onto a small drop of water.

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. Once the root cause of peaking is identified the hardwood floor peaking problem can be fixed. It is not hard to see the effect in wood flooring either.

Cupping is the result. Crowning is the opposite of cupping. Wood will try to match its internal.

The primary cause of cupping and warping is water leakages that might be present in the room of the hardwood flooring. Another common cause of cupped floors is failure to check the moisture contents of the subfloor and wood flooring before installation. More subtle cupping can be caused by lack of proper acclimation this is generally permanent cupping.

The significant change in temperature and humidity of air can cause the swelling of the planks. The paper will curl up away from the water. What causes wood floors to cup.

All these reasons can. Hardwood cupping can lead to more serious issues such as cracked boards and peeling finish and could eventually cause the flooring to buckle. Humidity buildup under a house is one of the main reason for a wood floors cupping and buckling.

What happens when that moisture releases from the floor and it returns to its original state. This expansion can create pressure between the boards which can cause the boards to. Potential sources of excessive moisture include.

Humidity plays a huge role in the upkeep of your hardwood floors. Another common culprit of floor cupping lies beneath the surface of your room. This can occur after water spills onto the floor and is absorbed by the wood.

This causes a difference in moisture content between the face and the back of the board with related expansion of the back. The air conditioning of your house can also sometimes cause hardwood floor cupping. The moisture causes the wood to expand which forces the edges up.

Cupping in hardwood floors is caused by a change in moisture levels in the air. 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. The moisture content causes a change in the wood boards and as it absorbs the moisture parts of the wood swell.

However usually high RH is the culprit. However raised moisture levels are not the only cause of cupping they can also be caused my lowered moisture levels depending on the type of hardwood floor installed in your home. Instead of the edges becoming higher with crowning the center begins to rise higher than the rest of the floor.

Lets take a look at some causes and how they can best be dealt with. Common Causes of Wood Floor Cupping Humidity Levels. As weve learned wood floor cupping is caused by the expansion of the floor planks due to moisture.

This is when the edges of a board are higher than its center due to moisture which causes the wood to expand. When one side of the floor is exposed to excessive moisture that side will expand causing the whole board to warp away from that side. Causes of wood floor cupping.

Buckling is like the opposite of cupping bowing upward into a peak instead of inward and sometimes even lifting off the flat underlayer surface. In other words water is introduced to the bottom of dry flooring boards. Find the Water Source Causing the Problems.

Look for the leakages or any other reasons like spilling of the water or standing water that never got cleaned up. Moisture can come from leaking water or water vapor from the surrounding air. The two readings should be within 3-4 for solid flooring less than 3 wide and within 1-2 for solid flooring wider than 3 wide.

The most common cause of cupped floors is the presence of moisture beneath the floor. Here is how to ensure that doesnt happen again.

Wood Floor Cupping Cause And Effect Floor Central