Buckling Hardwood Floors

Causes of buckled hardwood floors.

Buckling hardwood floors. Buckling for both laminate and solid hardwood floors can also occur if your floor has been improperly installed. Buckling is when the hardwood floor lifts or separates from the sub floor. There are environmental factors that can cause buckling or it may be because of faulty installation.

Although most cases of too much moisture or humidity can be solved before buckling occurs it does happen. Both problems are usually because of water damage but although that s the most common cause it s not the only one. Buckling also called cupping or crowning is the most extreme case of too much moisture exposure for wood flooring.

Buckling hardwood floors occur when there is excessive moisture caused by flooding or a build up in moisture from say your basement s concrete slab subfloor. Buckling is when the hardwood boards expand across their width causing them to lift upward and separate from the subfloor. Moisture primarily is the main cause of buckling.

Excessive job site moisture. This may cause other planks to rise as well. Inadequate or insufficient glue incorrect nailing or inferior subfloor construction can all result in buckling which can start as quickly as a few days after installation.

Hardwood floors buckle when the humidity levels in the lower levels of the house are too high in the crawlspace or basement explains the basement health association in the article negative effects on hardwood floors. The planks may show separation at the joints and the floor become uneven because of buckling. Buckling hardwoods buckling is like the opposite of cupping bowing upward into a peak instead of inward and sometimes even lifting off the flat underlayer surface.

If the wood floor was installed on a wet slab. This can happen after the wood floor suddenly gets flooded with large amounts of water and when moisture content builds up over time. Moisture is the downfall of many hardwood floors.