seasonal wood floor cupping

Seasonal Changes to Your Wood Floor. I had hardwood floors installed in April.

Cupped Hardwood Floors

The degree of cupping should not be too drastic.

. Never attempt to repair a cupped floor until all of the sources of excessive moisture have been located and eliminated. The biggest mistake possible in a cupping situation is to sand the wood floor flat while there is still moisture in the floor. This happens when the top of the floor looses moisture but the bottom doesnt follow.

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. To correct the cupping all of the flooring must be re-sanded and refinished. It ends up looking a little like an accordion.

The significant change in temperature and humidity of air can cause the swelling of the planks. During the winter Mr. It can also happen when the bottom of the planks absorb moisture from the subfloor and expand.

It is important to educate consumers on the type of floor that will best suit their needs and what they should expect overtime during seasonal changes so they are not disappointed if they see. Changes in weather conditions. Your wood floor may react to changing humidity levels if it is located in an area that experiences dry winters or humid summers.

During winter months complaints usually start trickling in. Solid 34 hardwoods will expand and contract with seasonal changes in moisture Cupping wood floor. When the moisture content rises in the bottom of the board the board expands pushing up the edges and cupping occurs.

With the rapid change in weather from warm and humid to cold and dry the environment in your home is changing as well. The air conditioning of your house can also sometimes cause hardwood floor cupping. Remind customers that minor cupping may be due to seasonal changes and that this kind of cupping usually disappears on its own when the.

Dry cupping can be a seasonal occurrence especially in climates that are cold and have a long heating season. Improper installation of flooring. Cupping buckling and crowning are three common excessive moisture related wood flooring problems.

If the cupping is minor and is the result of seasonal changes in temperature humidity and surface wetting the floor will likely return to its original position. Is Your Wood Floor Cupping During the Winter. But the cupping of hardwood floors that happens due to seasonal change has a short-term effect.

Cupping or dishing in solid hardwood means the boards raise slightly at their edges making the hardwood flooring uneven across its width. In some cases this can take days weeks or longer. Cupping happens when wood absorbs excess moisture causing it to swell and crush the boards together as they deform at the edges and forms a cup- like shape.

This can be verified only with a moisture meter that takes readings of the underlying subfloor. The installer installed the floors the day the flooring arrived. 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.

Cupping is a wood floors natural reaction to moisture. Free Download 4 Reasons Your Hardwood Flooring Failed. Warping happens when wood dries unevenly in the process of losing moisture.

A wood floor may experience some changes through its lifetime due to seasonal fluctuations in relative humidity maintenance and general wear and tear. Unlike solid wood flooring extended acclimation times will not reduce the possibility of the engineered flooring cupping during periods it. This condition occurs with gaps as the flooring shrinks.

Cupping occurs when the edges of the board are higher than the center of the. The amount of cupping will depend on the species swelling coefficient cut width thickness and the restraining forces that may be present. Wood expands and contracts with seasonal differences in humidity and the older a floor gets the greater the chance that these movements will cause cupping and gaps.

Understanding Cupping Warping and Buckling. After all both engineered and solid hardwood consist of real wood which warps when it absorbs water. Seasonal Changes to Your Wood Floor.

Dry Cupping Wood Floor. The wood is hickory and is 34 inch thick and 3 12 inches. Its likely that the humidity level has plummeted from over 50 to 30 or lower a humidity level where wood flooring begins to suffer.

The cause of cupping is an imbalance of moisture through the timber. Minor cupping is a normal result of seasonal relative humidity levels. Flooring also may cup when a wood floor experiences conditions that cause rapid drying on the surface.

With the rapid change in weather from warm and humid to cold and dry the environment in your home is changing as well. Seasonal changes in the wood flooring whether the product is solid or engineered should be discussed with those purchasing the product so they know what to expect. Since the process of cupping is the wood reacting to moisture if the woods moisture level returns to the proper equilibrium the cupping can resolve.

This can be a result of a spillage on the floor or because of the hardwood flooring gaining moisture from the sub-floor material. The floors cover approximately 1300 square feet. 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.

This leaves the edges of the wood thinner than than the center with moisture that. The simplest way to think of wood floor cupping is to imagine the edges of each plank sticking up higher than the centers. The edges of the floor planks are pulled up while the center remains lower.

A floor that has water introduced to it from the top may cup as the water goes between the boards and enters the wood from the bottom. The cupping of hardwood floors can be caused by seasonal change as well. Floor traditionally receives a high number of.

Seasonal temperature and humidity fluctuations will have an effect on wood floors. This is likely to be the case when a wood floor has finish on it. It is natural for wood floors to expand and contract throughout the year and seasonal Relative Humidity swings can have a big impact here.

Your homes humidity levels will likely fluctuate from season to season particularly if you live in an area with dry winters and humid summers. Any wood floor can suffer from cupping. Excessively gapped wood floor.

Cupping may occur in a fairly uniform manner throughout your house. Seasonal cupping of this type must be considered just as normal and natural as seasonal gaps between boards. Another common culprit of floor cupping lies beneath the surface of your room.

They werent there in the summer. I asked if the flooring should acclimate to my house and was answered no. Posted on November 16 2019 October 12 2020 by Igor Murokh.

Within a month the floors started cupping and buckling. Wood floors expand and contract in each season. Depending on the type of moisture issue however will determine how easily it can be fixed or how much effort it will take.

Humidity can cause cupping that is less severe than others and may even resolve itself as the seasons change. Often its a floor owner concerned with new hardwood floors separating or gapping. When water seeps into a plank of wood flooring the side of the board closest to the moisture will expand.

This makes curve to a bow crook cup. The edges of a board becomes higher than its center. Cupping below occurs when the bottom of the wood floor is wet and expands relative to the top of the wood floor.