hardwood floor cupping in summer
Cupping in Solid Wood Floors. Think about the cut of the wood.
Hardwood Floor Buckling Water Damage Floor Techie
If a floor experiences cupping a complete reinstallation may be in order.
. In many instances the wood planks cup because excessive humidity in the air makes the wood expand closes the gaps between slats and in the presence of excess moisture forces the wood to cup. Air with a high moisture content MC or high relative humidity RH causes wood to gain moisture. Using a dehumidifier during winter and summer can be a great way to address this issue.
However if your flooring was not properly installed or has not been appropriately maintained permanent and preventable damage may occur. During the summer all wood floors tend to expand because wood reacts to moisture. Heed the Warning Signs.
Wood floors were once trees. Hardwood flooring must be given time to adjust to surrounding moisture levels by means of a process known as acclimating or conditioning before it is. The problem is the air exchange during the summer is not fast enough to keep up with the buildup of moisture.
Changes in weather conditions. High quality wood flooring is manufactured from mature trees. Floors should also be inspected on a regular basis for signs of cupping so that the appropriate measures can be taken to contain it early on.
When RH falls wood loses moisture to the air. Having your hardwood flooring professionally sanded and can help diminish visible cupping. If the cupping is.
This is a completely natural process but excessive MC changes can cause wood floor. 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. Its best to manufacture your hardwood.
The problem basically comes from an unavoidable fact. It is not hard to see the effect in wood flooring either. Take a minute to think of a tree.
The paper will curl up away from the water. A dehumidifier works by removing moisture from the air. A certain amount of hardwood floor cupping is to be expected during the summertime.
Keep humidity levels in your home between 40 to 60 to avoid. The best way to prevent hardwood floors from cupping is to make sure they are professionally installed. Checks or cracks in the boards are also caused by loss of moisture.
Cupping is caused by a rapid loss of moisture in the wood. During the summertime humidity levels tend to be higher than during the winter when indoor moisture levels are often dried out due to your heating system. Improper installation of flooring.
The questions mostly come twice a yearin the summer as humidity rises causing floors to expand and in the winter as humidity falls and floors shrink. Now that the summer is here and the humidity has gone up we are noticing a significant amount of cupping and in. In these two seasons the change of humidity is frequent and significant.
There are multiple sources of moisture that can be the culprit in a cupped floor. Only install acclimated wood floors. The general effect is easy to demonstrate by putting a small strip of paper onto a small drop of water.
As mentioned above cupping can occur when the hardwood is exposed to hot humid temperatures in the summer and then cooler winter temperatures. However this process needs to be. We had hardwood floors installed in our new home in January.
Certain climates experience rather warm and humid summers and the season can result in elevated levels of moisture and with it the risk of cupping. While width is not a major factor the quality of the wood is for a number of reasons. From what you describe sounds like the wood was installed wet.
The cupping is due to some type of moisture imbalance in the wood flooring itself. Lets take a look at some causes and how they can best be dealt with. 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.
This will cause the wood to expand and contract allowing moisture to enter the cracks between boards. When relative humidity RH rises wood absorbs moisture from the air. The wet subfloor wets the bottom of wood flooring which causes the bottom of the planks to swell causing cupping in summer she said.
Condensation begins to form on the duct work insulation floor system and other construction materials inside the space. The summer and the winter are the two seasons that are mainly responsible for the cupping of hardwood floors. The moisture content MC of wood must be managed to achieve optimum beauty and durability.
Expansion space should be left at the walls. It ends up looking a little like an accordion. Using a dehumidifier might also be recommended in areas where hot humid temperatures are the norm during the summer months.
Reichel offered these suggestions. Hardwood Floor Problems. Extreme moisture can cause cupping when the edges raise higher than the middle of the wood planks or even buckling.
Hardwood cupping can lead to more serious issues such as cracked boards and peeling finish and could eventually cause the flooring to buckle. If you imagine a picture of a child drawing a boat in the water then the water will give you a good idea of what a cupped floor looks like. One of the most common causes of a cupped floor in our market is when a.
Any wood floor can suffer from cupping. Clients who are concerned about too much moisture in the environment creating issues in their hardwood floors during the summer should most likely choose quarter sawn wood especially if they choose wide plank floors. High Relative Humidity Even the most carefully installed flooring can be subject to hardwood cupping especially during the humid summer months.
Over time the crawl space reaches 100 relative humidity or dew point. During the hot humid days of summer we field calls from clients whose solid hardwood floors are cupping. Excess moisture is usually the culprit.
The best wood is cut from the center of a tree. The floors are 38 Durawood Stained Brazilian Oak from LL. The floors sat in the house for over a week before being installed.
Wood floor cupping can occur with any width board though the cupped appearance will often be greater with a wide plank due to its wider width. 5 Tips to Prevent Your Hardwood Floor from Cupping. During the summer months especially when the humidity levels are high hardwood floor is vulnerable cupping.
Solid strip flooring does have a shrinkswell coefficient of 1 in the length and 4 in the width. New Hardwood flooring Cupping and Buckling. Consider installing a whole house dehumidifier to reduce the relative humidity in your home.
To help protect your hardwood floors against cupping follow these 5 tips. Floors cup for one reason as a response to moisture.
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